Excessive use of land for construction and industrial purposes
required to be controlled and the rights of farmers protected. New
measures on the subject were announced yesterday at a State Council
executive meeting presided over by Premier Wen Jiabao.
A State Council executive meeting presided over by Premier Wen
Jiabao on Tuesday decided that:
* Charges for land use rights and tax on land use should be
raised to curb increasing encroachment onto farmland.
* Revenue from the transfer of land use rights should be part of
local government budgets instead of being held by local land
departments as is the current practice.
* Top local government officials should be held responsible for
land management and farmland protection.
* Farmers whose land is taken away should be compensated
adequately to allow them to maintain their quality of life.
The meeting also noted increasing cases of violations of laws
and regulations in land acquisition.
Statistics from the Ministry of Land and Resources indicate that
one in three construction projects in recent years are on land
acquired illegally. Between October 2004 and May 2005 the figure
jumped to one in two of all projects.
However, experts say it's not easy to curb the trend. Lin
Yueqin, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences,
said many local governments want to acquire more land for projects
to boost the economy. This has long been considered an indicator of
how they're performing in their careers. Also some local officials
wished to fatten their own wallets by illegally transferring land
for non-farming purposes, observed Lin.
At the meeting Wen urged the nine recently established land
inspection bureaus to strengthen supervision of land acquisition
deals nationwide.?
China's arable land has dropped from 130 million hectares in
1996 to 122 million last year and nearly 40 million farmers have
lost their land. Per capita arable land was 0.093 hectares which is
a third of the global average.
Wen called for steady growth of the economy in the second half
of the year. He said more attention should be given to the
structure of the economy and the pattern of economic growth. The
nation would focus more on energy saving and environmental
protection to promote sustainable development.
He demanded more efforts be made in such areas as raising
farmers' incomes, curbing overheated investment in fixed assets and
boosting consumption.
Wen added that in the next five years China would create 45
million jobs, re-employ 45 million laborers in rural areas and keep
urban unemployment below 5 percent.
(China Daily July 28, 2006)