Anhui experiments with sales of rural land in 20 counties

Source:caixin.com Published: 2013-11-16 15:03:41

Photo: caixin.com


 

The government of Anhui Province issued a decree on November 12 to allow rural land designated for construction in 20 counties to be sold, another experiment in changing China's rigid rural land policy.

The experiment in the eastern province of Anhui also allows farmers in the 20 counties to sell the land designated for them to build their houses on, expanding farmers' source of income.

The country's land is divided into rural and urban usage. The law says rural land is owned by the collective and it must be expropriated by governments before it can be sold on the market. The experiment in Anhui, as well as a recent move in Shenzhen, in the southern province of Guangdong, in early November to put a parcel of rural land onto the urban market, represents an attempt by local governments to end their own monopolies.
 
The Anhui decree allows rural land owned by the collective that is designated for construction to be sold. It can then be used for a range of purposes: industrial, commercial or tourism development or construction of housing for farmers. The county collectives in the eastern province can sell or lease this land, or use it as equity investment in development projects.

In addition, the decree asks collectives to explore ways to distribute the returns on the land, and to increase farmers' share of compensation for land taken by the government.

Urban land designated for construction can be sold or mortgaged, but similar rural land cannot be used by entities outside the village. The third plenum of the Communist Party's 18th Central Committee, which closed on November 12, said a unified market for rural and urban construction land should be formed.

Anhui's approach can be seen as one way of figuring out a way to do that. Reform ideas in China are often tried out in a small area, then expanded if they work well.

A part of the decree on rural land designated for farmers' housing is also significant. Rural land falls into three categories: collective land for farming, collective land for construction and farmers' land for household use. The latter owned by the collective but farmers have the right to use it indefinitely.

The law does not allow this rural housing land to be sold or mortgaged. Guangdong broke this rule, allowing the land to be traded among villagers. The Anhui decree goes a step further by allowing deals between villages.

Guo Shutian, former director of Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, said the experiment in Anhui was a step forward. However, he warned that farmers must be left to make their own decisions, and not be forced into a deal that nets them only an apartment.



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