Land rights confirmation: no uniform pace, no one-size-fits-all approach

Minister of Agriculture Han Changfu recently stated that all localities should actively and steadily carry out the work of confirming, registering and certifying rural land contractual management rights, without seeking a uniform pace and without adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.

Han Changfu made the above remarks at a video conference on the confirmation, registration and certification of rural land contractual management rights jointly convened by the Ministry of Agriculture and five other departments on the 11th.

Han Changfu stated that in doing a good job in the confirmation, registration and certification of land contractual management rights, the existing land contractual relationships should be stabilized, operations should be carried out in an orderly manner in accordance with laws and regulations, and matters should be properly resolved through democratic consultation among members of collective economic organizations within the framework of existing laws, regulations and policies; the enthusiasm of farmers should be fully mobilized, turning "I am asked to confirm rights" into "I want to confirm rights," and the lawful rights and interests of groups such as migrant workers and rural women should be protected; the practice of confirming rights and shares without confirming land should be strictly controlled, ensuring that progress is subordinate to quality, and that the work at every stage and every point is done in a detailed and solid manner; in accordance with the requirements of the central authorities, territorial management responsibilities should be strengthened, and local governments should be responsible at different levels; the work should be grasped firmly, effectively and in detail, and advanced steadily and prudently, and quality requirements must absolutely not be relaxed in order to rush progress and produce half-cooked results.

Experts on "agriculture, rural areas and farmers" stated that the confirmation, registration and certification of land contractual management rights is an urgent need for solving practical problems in rural land contracting, developing appropriately scaled operations, advancing reform of the rural collective property rights system, and safeguarding farmers' land rights and interests. It is a historic and foundational task that bears on the vital interests of hundreds of millions of farmers, on consolidating the basic rural operating system, and on the overall situation of rural reform, development and stability.

In 2014, the central authorities selected Shandong, Sichuan and Anhui provinces and 27 counties in other provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to carry out overall pilot work on the confirmation, registration and certification of rural land contractual management rights, and many localities also expanded the pilot scope in light of local conditions. At present, 1,988 counties (cities and districts) across the country have carried out pilot work, involving 13,000 townships and 195,000 villages, with pilot coverage area of 330 million mu.