Land management rights should be returned to farmers
"In the past there was a great debate. One view held that land ownership should be returned to farmers, while another view held that collective ownership should still be upheld. Is the separation of the three rights a way to resolve this dispute and reach consensus? I personally think it can be." On May 17, renowned economist Wu Jinglian, Baosteel Chair Professor of Economics at China Europe International Business School, made the above remarks at the 2015 Fourth China International Agribusiness Summit Forum.
The "separation of the three rights" of rural land first formally appeared in the "Opinions on Guiding the Orderly Transfer of Rural Land Contracted Management Rights and Developing Moderately Scaled Agricultural Operations," which was reviewed and approved in September of last year.
On September 29, 2014, Xi Jinping, General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, presided over the fifth meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform. The meeting reviewed documents including the "Opinions on Guiding the Orderly Transfer of Rural Land Contracted Management Rights and Developing Moderately Scaled Agricultural Operations," and recommended that, after further revision and improvement based on the meeting's discussions, they be submitted for approval and implementation in accordance with procedures.
As for the so-called separation of the three rights, Xi Jinping pointed out in his speech: "On the premise of adhering to collective ownership of rural land, we must promote the separation of contract rights and management rights, forming a pattern in which ownership, contract rights, and management rights are separated into three rights, and management rights are transferred."
Industry experts analyze that in the new historical period, comprehensively deepening the reform of the rural land system and promoting the separation of ownership, contract rights, and management rights of rural land is a major adjustment of the rural areas' existing productive forces and relations of production. It will greatly liberate productive forces and produce far-reaching historical influence.
Wu Jinglian said that after this document was promulgated, it appeared that the reform of rural areas and agriculture had officially begun. The orderly transfer of management rights and moderately scaled agricultural operations--the former is the precondition for the latter. To achieve this, it is necessary to establish a property rights system. But on some major issues, there are very different opinions within the country. One view holds that land ownership should be returned to farmers, while another view holds that collective ownership should still be upheld.
Wu Jinglian said that ownership is what is traditionally called field rights, and management rights are what is called surface rights in the traditional land ownership system. He stated that he advocates returning land rights to farmers, but the so-called "returning to farmers" refers to the land's surface rights (management rights), not field rights (ownership).
Wu Jinglian also said that China urgently needs to establish a unified, open, competitive, and orderly market for the transfer of land management rights, including forms such as subcontracting, leasing, exchange, and transfer. As long as it is an independent form of property rights, all property rights functions should be reflected in the market.