Rural Land System Reform Must Strictly Hold the Bottom Line

Comrade Xi Jinping emphasized that the strictest farmland protection system must be implemented, the balance of occupied and reclaimed farmland must be achieved in accordance with laws and regulations, rural land transfer must be advanced in a standardized and orderly manner, and farmland must be protected as diligently as giant pandas are protected. At the beginning of this year, the Central Committee issued the "Opinions on the Pilot Work of Rural Land Expropriation, Entry of Collective Operating Construction Land into the Market, and Reform of the Homestead System," marking that the deepening reform of China's rural land system has entered the pilot stage. Strictly guarding the red line of 1.8 billion mu of farmland is the bottom line for advancing rural land system reform, is the major premise of the pilot, and must never be crossed.

Rural land transfer must resolutely prevent “non-grain conversion” and “non-agricultural conversion.” At present, the national rural land transfer area has exceeded 30% of the total contracted land area, and positive progress has been made in orderly land transfer and appropriately scaled operations. However, some new problems have also emerged in practice, such as administrative promotion, one-sided pursuit of transfer speed and scale; industrial and commercial capital competing with the people for profits or carrying out non-agricultural construction; and so on. Land transfer and appropriately scaled operations are the inevitable path for developing modern agriculture. All localities must implement the central guidelines and policies, avoid pursuing transfer ratios, issuing transfer targets, and engaging in “Great Leap Forward”-style transfer. Regarding the problems brought about by the involvement of industrial and commercial capital, a review and supervision mechanism for agricultural land transfer involving multiple parties should be established, strictly reviewing the qualifications, operating capacity, and business projects of industrial and commercial capital entities leasing agricultural land, and those that conflict with national laws must be prohibited in accordance with the law. A risk guarantee fund system for leased agricultural land should be established and improved, guiding industrial and commercial capital to sign standardized transfer contracts with farmers. Supervision over agricultural land use should be strengthened, and those who arbitrarily change agricultural use or seriously damage or pollute farmland must be held accountable in accordance with the law. Resolutely prevent industrial and commercial capital from carrying out non-agricultural construction that affects grain production and farmland protection, and avoid the “non-grain conversion” and “non-agricultural conversion” of farmland.

Strictly implement the balance of occupied and reclaimed farmland to ensure the quantity and quality of farmland. As urbanization continues to advance, occupying farmland is unavoidable. Implementing the balance of occupied and reclaimed farmland and replenishing farmland of equivalent quantity and quality is a key measure for guarding the farmland red line. But in reality, some places have seen phenomena such as occupying more and replenishing less, occupying superior land and replenishing inferior land, and occupying paddy fields and replenishing dry land, which deviate from the original intent of the policy and seriously harm the sustainable development of agriculture. Strictly implementing the farmland occupation-reclamation balance system can, to the greatest extent, ensure that construction projects do not occupy or occupy less farmland, form a constraint mechanism for occupying farmland and a reverse pressure mechanism for economical and intensive land use, and promote the transformation of the economic development model through the transformation of land use patterns. The legal responsibility for the balance of occupied and reclaimed farmland should be further strengthened, and the principle of “whoever occupies shall reclaim” should be implemented. At the same time, ensure the quantity and quality of reclaimed farmland, and resolutely prevent false replenishment and insufficient replenishment. Strictly implement supervision responsibilities, and for all types of illegal and irregular acts involving land, be willing to confront difficulties head-on, and major typical cases should be exposed in a timely manner.

Strengthen planning control and advance land consolidation. Strictly guarding the farmland red line, planning control is the basic basis. In delimiting permanent basic farmland, basic farmland information can be marked on farmers' land contractual management right certificates in conjunction with real estate registration, serving as a “high-voltage line”; no unit or individual may arbitrarily occupy it or change its use without the approval of the State Council. Further coordinate planning, integrate funds, carry out land consolidation well, improve the farmland ecological environment and infrastructure support, and implement the integrated protection of farmland quantity, quality, and ecology. Since the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan,” the whole country has increased farmland by 22 million mu through land consolidation and built more than 300 million mu of high-standard basic farmland, with notable results. All localities should strictly carry out the quality acceptance and evaluation of reclaimed farmland in accordance with the requirements of the "Work Specifications for Quality Acceptance and Evaluation of Reclaimed Farmland" and the "Technical Specifications for Quality Evaluation of Reclaimed Farmland." At the same time, promptly formulate national and local standards for farmland quality grades to enhance operability and standardization. Establish and improve laws and regulations on farmland protection as soon as possible, improve the compensation mechanism for farmland protection, and, in accordance with the principle of “taken from the soil and used for the soil,” explore the establishment of a long-term mechanism for farmland protection.