The Market and the Government Should Both Play Their Roles Well in Rural Land Transfer

The "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Several Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reform" points out that economic system reform is the focus of comprehensively deepening reform, and the core issue is to handle well the relationship between the government and the market, so that the market plays a decisive role in resource allocation and the government plays its role better. Land transfer, as a new phenomenon emerging in the course of the continuous deepening of China's rural economic system reform, is an effective way to achieve the optimal allocation of rural land resources. It should respect the leading role of the market and the principal position of farmers, and give play to the decisive role of the market mechanism in land transfer. At the same time, it should also give play to the role of the government's visible hand, overcome the phenomena of government overreach, absence, and misplacement, strengthen the guidance, regulation, supervision, and service of land transfer, achieve an organic combination of the decisive role of the market and the normative guidance of the government, and enable rural land transfer to develop in a healthy and orderly manner.

On the basis of doing well the work of rural land rights confirmation, registration, and certification, establish a rural land property rights trading market system as soon as possible

Clarifying land contractual management rights is the premise for land transfer and the foundational work for improving the land transfer market. Through rights confirmation, each plot contracted by farmers is issued a rural land use property rights certificate, and farmers can, through a standardized land property rights trading market, transfer land contractual management rights in forms such as subcontracting, leasing, exchange, transfer, and share cooperation, so that land truly begins to become capital. Rural property rights trading is a property rights trading behavior built on the basis of collective property rights trading and non-state-owned, non-collective property rights trading. At present, the number of rural property rights trading service institutions across the country is not large, and they are still in the initial stage. The rural property rights trading market plays an important role in land transfer. It helps the government transform its functions, helps the government free itself from directly handling trading behavior, and effectively solves the problem of the indistinction between government and affairs; it helps give play to the decisive role of the market and better embodies the market's functions of gathering information, allocating resources, and forming prices; and it helps establish an open, fair, and just trading platform to ensure that the trading process is transparent.

Accelerate the establishment and improvement of the land transfer market service system and give play to the decisive role of the market in land transfer

On the whole, China's rural land transfer service system is not sound. Two-thirds of the counties and townships across the country have not established land transfer service platforms, and most counties and townships still do not have land transfer service institutions. Accelerating the establishment and improvement of the rural land transfer market service system is the foundation for giving play to the decisive role of the market. The key points here are: first, improve the land transfer service platform. It is necessary to gradually establish and improve the three-level service network of county service centers, township service stations, and village-level service points, establish a transfer information database, and carry out services such as information consultation, evaluation, and assistance in handling procedures. Second, establish a land transfer information network so that both supply and demand sides can obtain reliable information in a timely and accurate manner. Third, cultivate land transfer intermediary institutions. Fourth, establish a scientific mechanism for the formation and guidance of land transfer prices. The key point is, on the basis of a specific analysis of land price factors, to grade and classify different lands and conduct scientific evaluation, determine the benchmark price of land transfer, and on the basis of the benchmark price determine the transfer price of specific land parcels. At the same time, because China's land transfer market is still in the initial stage, in order to reduce speculative activity in land transfer and promote the fair, just, and orderly operation of the land transfer market, it is necessary for land management departments to establish a corresponding transfer price publication system.

Formulate policies to encourage and support land transfer and create a policy environment conducive to land transfer

Requiring farmers to carry out orderly and standardized land transfer in the land transfer market is a process, especially in the initial stage of the development of the transfer market, which requires government support and the support of some preferential policy measures. All localities should effectively give play to the guiding role of policies, formulate policies suited to local conditions that are highly targeted, adopt various supportive measures, give farmers who enter the market to transfer land tangible benefits, attract farmers in, and promote standardized land transfer. At the same time, encourage the development of large professional households, family farms, agricultural professional cooperatives, and other large-scale operating entities, and tilt preferential policies in agricultural infrastructure construction, technology promotion, agricultural product marketing, and financial services toward them, so as to promote intensive and large-scale operation of rural land. For example, in terms of fiscal policy, a certain scale of special support funds for land transfer can be arranged each year in the fiscal budget to provide policy subsidies to large-scale operating entities and land-transferring households; in terms of credit policy, operating entities that conform to the direction of agricultural industrialization development and agricultural industry support policies and whose land transfer area reaches a certain scale should be treated as key targets of credit support, with a certain amount of agricultural credit funds arranged each year to provide support, and tax reductions or tax preferences may also be implemented. At the same time, it is necessary to strengthen government technical support for land transfer. Relying on "agricultural technical schools" and the "Sunshine Project," it is possible to strengthen training and guidance in practical agricultural technology for large transfer households, station agricultural science and technology personnel to provide technical guidance services to large growers and professional cooperatives, and also take measures to encourage agricultural technical personnel at all levels and units and individuals from colleges, universities, and research institutes to participate in rural land transfer through forms such as scientific and technological research and development, technical contracting, technical shareholding, and the formation of specialized organizations.

Strengthen the standardized management of land transfer and ensure the standardized and orderly operation of rural land transfer

At present, most rural land transfer is spontaneous transfer between farming households. Nearly 40% of land transfers have not signed contracts, and even where there are written contracts, the contract texts are not standardized, the contract terms are incomplete, and they have not been reviewed, certified, and registered by contract management institutions, which easily leads to disputes and conflicts and leaves the rights and interests of both parties to the transfer unprotected. Governments at all levels should, in light of local realities, innovate land transfer systems and focus their work on the standardized management of land transfer. First, strengthen the management of land transfer procedures. Both parties to land transfer should sign a written contract and report it to the township agricultural contract management institution for review, certification, and registration. It is necessary to clarify the principal position of farming households in land transfer and prohibit township and village-level organizations from signing contracts on behalf of farming households or bypassing them. Second, strengthen the registration management of land transfer. Registering and filing according to prescribed procedures can enhance farmers' sense of security in carrying out transfers, expand the scale of transfers, and at the same time enable the government to grasp the actual situation of land transfer and formulate correct policies and measures. Third, strengthen the contract management of land transfer, improve the compliance of contracts, and protect the rights and interests of both parties and the fulfillment of contracts.

Increase investment to improve the rural social security system and create favorable conditions for land transfer

At present, China's rural social security system is still not sound. This situation causes farmers to press the heavy burden of their own security onto the land they have contracted, thus creating a bottleneck for the transfer of land contractual management rights. Therefore, it is necessary to accelerate the establishment and improvement of the rural social security system. On the one hand, by establishing a sound rural social security system, gradually weaken the social security function of land, reduce farmers' dependence on land and the cost of changes to the agricultural land system, eliminate farmers' worries, and create favorable conditions to accelerate rural land transfer. It is necessary to adhere to the principle of "adapting to local conditions, acting within one's means, using diverse forms, and respecting farmers' voluntariness," and establish old-age, medical, maternity, disability, and other insurance through multiple channels, at multiple levels, and in multiple ways. By establishing a social security system, return land to its normal nature as a production factor and give play to the economic function of land as much as possible. For farmers who have already transferred land, guide them to set aside part of their funds to establish personal basic medical and old-age insurance and improve their capacity for self-security. On the other hand, it is necessary to establish and improve the agricultural risk protection mechanism. Consideration may be given to establishing rural land transfer risk funds, disaster risk compensation funds, crop pest insurance funds, and cultivated land protection funds, among others, as pension funds for land-lost farmers, guarantee funds for cultivated land transfer, and agricultural insurance subsidies. It is possible to explore the implementation of mutual insurance cooperation methods, form "mutual aid cooperative insurance organizations," and, on the principle of voluntariness, implement an agricultural insurance operating model of member contributions, fiscal subsidies, self-management, cooperative sharing, separate account supervision, and rolling development, so as to minimize the risks brought by land transfer.

Strengthen the supervision and management of land transfer and create a good environment for the healthy development of land transfer

A market economy is a rule-of-law economy. If the land transfer market is to achieve efficient and orderly transfer, it likewise needs laws and regulations to regulate and constrain it. At present, it is necessary to accelerate the construction of laws and regulations for the rural land transfer market, promptly revise legal provisions that are not conducive to the formation of the land transfer market or that conflict and contradict one another, and, in legal form, make clear legal provisions on important issues such as the market entities participating in rural land transfer, the principles, conditions, scope, procedures, forms, liability for breach of contract, and adjustment of interests of land transfer, so as to ensure the healthy and orderly operation of the rural land transfer market. Government departments should earnestly take responsibility, effectively strengthen supervision and management, and create a good environment for land transfer. Land transfer management and arbitration institutions may be established according to circumstances and given corresponding management authority to supervise the land transfer process and improve the arbitration and mediation mechanism for land transfer disputes. By strengthening the construction of rural land dispute arbitration institutions, explore a long-term mechanism for resolving rural land disputes, formulate and standardize various systems and procedures for dispute arbitration, so as to effectively resolve rural conflicts, safeguard farmers' land rights and interests, and maintain rural social stability. The functional departments of the government should coordinate and act in unison, jointly manage matters, guide the conclusion of land transfer contracts, establish transfer contract files, regularly inspect the land use situation after transfer, and do well in supervision and management before, during, and after the event, so as to ensure that land transfer is carried out in an orderly manner in accordance with the law. In particular, functional departments such as agricultural economics and land and resources should strengthen supervision and strictly guard against incidents of changing the agricultural use of land under the name of land transfer. Illegal acts that have already occurred, such as illegal occupation of land and changing the agricultural nature of land, must be cracked down on and sanctioned in accordance with the law.