Ministry of Land and Resources Issues This Year's National Land Use Plan
A few days ago, the Ministry of Land and Resources issued the "Notice on Issuing the 〈2015 National Land Use Plan〉" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), requiring all regions to treat different areas differently, to provide guarantees where needed and to cut back where necessary, to reasonably arrange planned quotas for construction land, and to promote coordinated development among regions, between urban and rural areas, and among industries. It is understood that the amount of newly added construction land planned and allocated to all regions nationwide this year is roughly the same as last year.
The "Notice" requires that land and resources departments at all levels fully implement a series of major decisions and arrangements of the central government, uphold the general principle of seeking progress while maintaining stability, actively adapt to the new normal of economic development, implement the strictest farmland protection system and the strictest system for economizing on land use, closely coordinate with the relevant national macroeconomic regulation policies, coordinate newly added and existing construction land, reasonably arrange land use plans, and promote stable economic growth and continuous improvement of people's livelihood.
Give priority to arranging construction land for social welfare. Planned land use quotas should be given priority to guaranteeing construction of affordable housing, medical care and education, public welfare facilities, environmental protection, and so on. For planned quotas for affordable housing land, special arrangements and tiered management shall continue to be implemented; for the planned quotas for affordable housing land in cities where the State Council approves batch land use, the Ministry shall arrange them directly when reviewing the city's batch land use; for the planned quotas for affordable housing land in other cities, they shall be issued separately to local governments and arranged and implemented by each province (region, municipality) when approving land use.
Focus on guaranteeing construction land for infrastructure. Planned land use quotas should focus on supporting infrastructure such as transportation, water conservancy, and energy, as well as military construction. For land for comprehensive railway land development, each province (region, municipality) must strictly control it, strictly verify and determine planned land use quotas, and strictly prevent idle land; for railway comprehensive development land in cities where the State Council approves batch land use, the relevant province (region, municipality) shall note this when submitting the city's batch land use for approval, and the Ministry shall arrange the planned land use quota; for planned quotas for railway comprehensive development land in other cities, the relevant province (region, municipality) shall first arrange them within the plan issued by the state, and after reporting to the Ministry for review at the end of the year, specially arrange the use of reserved national planned quotas.
Reasonably arrange construction land for urban and rural areas and industries. Strictly control land use in megacities, and reasonably arrange planned land use quotas for large, medium, and small cities and small towns; implement separate listing for planned quotas for rural construction land, and the separately listed quotas must not be less than 3%~5% of the total plan issued by the state. Focus on supporting strategic emerging industries such as photovoltaics, as well as modern service industries such as elderly care, culture, medical care, and tourism; for construction land for auxiliary facilities of new-type agricultural business entities, planned land use quotas must be arranged through separate listing.
Implement construction land for poverty alleviation and development. When breaking down and issuing land use plans to relevant provinces, for the national key counties for poverty alleviation and development work, arrange planned land use quotas of 300 mu each; when breaking down and issuing plans, each relevant province must implement the poverty alleviation land use quotas down to the key poverty alleviation counties, so as to guarantee construction land for poverty alleviation and development projects.
According to the "Notice," competent land and resources departments at all levels must effectively implement the obligation to balance the occupation and compensation of farmland occupied by construction. When breaking down and issuing quotas for construction-occupied farmland, full consideration must be given to the potential for supplementary farmland and the actual situation of supplementary farmland; for cities and counties with insufficient reserve resources and difficulty in implementing supplementary farmland, the issued quotas for construction-occupied farmland must be reduced. Supervision of plan implementation must be strengthened; for construction projects whose land use does not conform to industrial policy and land supply policy, planned quotas must not be arranged.