Aerial photo taken on Oct. 16, 2020 shows a rural landscape of Pumiao Township, Yongning District, Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (Xinhua/Zhou Hua)

The rent deal for an area of industrial land in Jinan, the provincial capital of East China's Shandong Province, was tied up for 70.25 million yuan ($10.81 million) on Friday, the first rural collective construction land deal in Jinan, according to Jinan Times on Sunday. 

The land is located in Shanghe county of Jinan, with an area of 369.70 mu (24.6 hectares). The land will be leased for 50 years. 

According to the "No. 1 document" for 2021 unveiled by China's central government in February, efforts to comprehensively push forward rural vitalization and accelerate the modernization of agriculture and rural areas were highlighted. 

The representative of Shandong Jinshahe Flour Group, who won the bid for the land, said that the process of making rent deals has been rectified. 

The representative said that they previously had to pay the rent and sign contracts each year when they made a deal with a rural village in the past, which generated more risks. What's more, the clear owner certificate was difficult to issue. 

Officers of Shanghe county government also noted that rural collective construction land must be collected as estate of the realm and then the transfer can be processed. The village and residents can only acquire a one-time compensation for land acquisition. "According to the latest policies, village and residents can receive 70 percent of total revenue of land rental, which is good for both sides," said the officer, according to media reports.

"The success of making this deal has important meaning for exploration rural land reform," Li Guoxiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Global Times on Sunday. 

Li suggested that the country's top regulators had vowed to ensure that rural collective construction land has same rights and prices to sell, rent and sell shares with estate of the realm. "Related plans had been set for years and not been implemented due to a series of difficulties, including specific operation regulations and land planning," said Li.

According to the Jinan Times report, the deal is an important step in the area of rural land reform, which also affects rural land assets, increase local residents' income and provide valuable reference examples for future land reform.