Rural reform must have a legal basis and firmly hold the bottom line

Rural reform involves a wide range of areas, has a large impact and is highly policy-oriented; the key is to have a legal basis and hold the bottom line. Chongqing is a pilot city for comprehensive coordinated urban-rural reform designated by the state. Faced with new situations, new circumstances and new requirements in agricultural and rural development, it is not acceptable to fail to deepen reform, nor to reform too weakly, and still less to use unscientific methods. We must be clear about what can be changed and what cannot be changed, at what pace to reform, and to what extent. The key is to adhere to the direction of socialist market economy reform, accurately grasp the spiritual essence and deployment requirements of the Central Committee on rural reform, and actively yet prudently advance rural reform within the framework of the Constitution and laws.

First, the collective ownership nature of land must not be changed. Rural land being collectively owned by farmers is the “soul” of the rural basic management system and the fundamental guarantee for achieving long-term stability and order in rural areas. China's Constitution clearly stipulates that “land in rural and suburban areas is owned by the collective, except where the law provides that it is owned by the state; housing sites and privately reserved plots and hills are also owned by the collective.” Improving and innovating the rural basic management system is by no means a negation of the collective ownership system of rural land. Rather, on the basis of adhering to collective ownership and stabilizing land contracting relations, it separates the “three rights” of land ownership, contracting rights and management rights, invigorates land management rights, and explores multiple effective forms of realizing land contractual management rights.

⟦NL> Second, land use must not be changed. Introducing industrial and commercial capital to lease and operate farmers' contracted land must help promote modern agricultural development and drive up farmers' incomes, and must never lead to grain fields becoming “non-grain” or agricultural land becoming “non-agricultural.” Our city's land resources are very limited, and arable land per capita is seriously insufficient, so even more attention must be paid to the intensive and economical use of land resources, especially arable land resources. It is necessary to strengthen land use control, strengthen supervision over the use of transferred land, strictly implement the farmland protection system, and rigorously defend the red line for arable land.

Third, farmers' interests must not be harmed. Protecting farmers' interests is the core issue of all work related to “agriculture, rural areas and farmers.” On the basis of stabilizing land contracting relations, it is necessary to follow the principles of equal consultation, legality, voluntariness and compensation to promote the transfer of land contractual management rights. Rural land transfer must not be rushed for quick results, one-sidedly pursuing transfer scale and transfer proportion, or relying on administrative orders to assign targets, set tasks and rush speed, thereby damaging farmers' interests. It must be made clear that the main body of land transfer is farmers, not officials, and the mechanism relies on the market, not the government. Rural reform must be farmer-centered, take protecting farmers' lawful rights and interests as its starting point and ultimate goal, fully respect farmers' wishes, and must never allow reform to harm farmers' interests.

Reform must release vitality and promote development, and reform must even more have a legal basis and hold the bottom line. We must always adhere to the rural basic economic system, and must never wreck the collective ownership system of rural land, reduce arable land, or harm farmers' interests. Leading cadres at all levels must hold these bottom lines.