Farmers battling to preserve land

• Source: Global Times
• [03:41 July 09 2010]
• Comments

A housing complex goes up near a farm in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province in 2008. Photo: CFP and Xue Zijin

By Zou Le

Wang Yongchao, 40, felt he was duped into leasing his farm to the local government four years ago, which in turn handed it over to a private company that built chemical factories where rice, wheat and corn used to grow.

The farmer, like thousands of others in the country, is angry that land set aside for farming has been used illegally to help local officials boost revenue through profitable development projects.

However, Wang has decided to set an example by going after the local authorities in Tangdian township, Jiangsu Province, and the factory owner in court, and wherever he can get help to recover his 4 mu (0.26 hectare) of land.

"I will do whatever I can to fight for the land because they are mine and no one else can invade them," Wang told the Global Times Thursday.

His four mu was just part of 3,000 mu local authorities took over to make way for the factories. Like many of his farming colleagues, Wang is a traditional subsistence farmer who relied on the land to grow food for his three children.

Local authorities did not inform Wang when they "leased" the land exactly how it would be used.

The township is reaping millions in revenue. Wang was offered 2,800 yuan ($413) a year for the land which, he said, is less than half of what he earned by growing vegetables on his farm.

Court order ignored

He petitioned higher authorities and in 2008, the land and resource bureau in Xinxi agreed that 350 mu was being used illegally and ordered the owner of the factories to return the 350 mu and pay 600,000 yuan fine.

The bureau asked a court to enforce the order. The fine was paid to the bureau but the factories are still active, Faren Magazine, a publication affiliated with the Legal Daily, reported earlier.

After he and others petitioned the government at various levels, including the Supreme Court in Beijing, Wang got no where and decided last year to sue the owners of the factories and the township government. He expects a verdict later this month.

Wang is just one of millions of farmers whose land have been taken from them and used for economic development projects including golf courses and skyscrapers that help the economy grow at double digits.

As a result, arable land crucial to feeding one-fifth of the world's population has been dwindling and despite protests and clashes among civilians and authorities, farmers feel a bit lost.

Premier Wen Jiabao said during the fifth session of the 10th National People's Congress in 2007 that it was important to preserve at least 1.8 billion mu of arable land, which is considered a redline. Crossing it would damage the food supply for 1.3 billion people and subsequently cause social unrests and perhaps pose risk to national security.

Shanxi Daily reported last March that the demand for land has increased because of infrastructure projects drawn up to stimulate domestic demand.

"As for now, the situation is still grim," said Li Jianqin, director of the supervision department at the Ministry of Land Resources (MLR) last month after looking into land use violations.

National problem

Based on MLR's inspection of 172 cities in 2008, the average amount of land used illegally for construction was 14.4 percent. The illegal occupation exceeded 15 percent in 46 cities.

Official statistics show 1.82 billion mu of arable land is available and the amount decreased from 1.92 billion mu in 2000 to 1.827 billion mu in 2006.

Zhu Daolin, a professor of resources and environmental sciences at the China Agricultural University, told the Global Times that "leasing" remains a common way for local officials to turn farmland into construction sites without raising too many eyebrows.

It is common because it bypasses a long application process, which in most cases would not work since the government limits the amount of farmland that could be used for other purposes.

"However local governments' quests for land always exceed the quota by a million mile, which accounts for so many land use violations," Zhu said. "To many local governments, the idea of protecting arable land becomes so fragile in the face of GDP growth."

Under Chinese law, only provincial governments or higher may authorize a new use for farmland under 35 hectares. Anything above must be sent to the central government for approval.