Fifteen years later, the Land Management Law was revised again. The introduction of collectively managed construction land into the market will eventually be promoted across the country.

On August 26, the 12th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress voted to adopt a decision on amending the Land Management Law and the Urban Real Estate Management Law. This decision will come into effect on January 1, 2020.

Since the current Land Management Law was promulgated in 1986, it has been revised for the first time in 1988, comprehensively revised in August 1998, and third revised in August 2004.

In view of the current hot spots and difficult areas of rural land reform, this revision of the Land Management Law mainly makes modifications and improvements in three aspects: first, narrowing the scope of land acquisition, standardizing land acquisition procedures, and improving reasonable, standardized, and multiple guarantee mechanisms for land-expropriated farmers; second, clarifying the conditions and management measures for collective commercial construction land to enter the market; third, improving the way to protect the rights and interests of homesteads and improving the homestead management system.

Wei Lihua, Director of the Department of Regulations of the Ministry of Natural Resources, said at a press conference of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on the 26th that the subjects involved in the reform of the rural land system and the interest relationships involved are very complex, affecting the whole body, and must be promoted prudently and steadily. Therefore, at the end of 2014, the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council issued the "Opinions on Rural Land Expropriation, the Market Entry of Collective Commercial Construction Land, and the Pilot Work of Homestead Reform" to deploy rural land system reform pilot work across the country.

On the morning of August 26, after the closing of the 12th meeting of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee, the General Office of the National People's Congress Standing Committee held a press conference in the Taiwan Hall of the Great Hall of the People.

Since the pilot project broke through the relevant provisions of the Land Management Law and the Urban Real Estate Management Law, in February 2015, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed an authorization decision authorizing the State Council to suspend the implementation of five provisions of the Land Management Law and one provision of the Urban Real Estate Management Law in the administrative regions of 33 pilot counties. Since 2015, 33 pilot areas have boldly explored and practiced under the strong leadership of the Party Central Committee. The reform of the rural land system has achieved significant results and laid a solid foundation for the revision of the Land Management Law.

Wei Lihua said that in terms of land expropriation, the new law has been improved in three aspects. First, the public interest in land expropriation is clearly defined for the first time, because the original Constitution and the Land Management Law stipulate that the state can expropriate land for the public interest, but what is the public interest? There have been no clear legal provisions for a long time. In particular, our Land Management Law stipulates that any unit or individual using land must use state-owned land, which has led to expropriation becoming the only way to obtain land.

This time, on the basis of summarizing the pilot experience, we adopted the enumeration method to make a decision on which public interests can be used by the state’s expropriation power.Clear definition. Expropriation can be carried out in accordance with the law in six situations such as military diplomacy, infrastructure construction, public welfare undertakings, poverty alleviation and relocation and affordable housing projects organized by the government, as well as land development and construction that really require land preparation.

Second, it is clarified for the first time that the basic principle of land expropriation compensation is to ensure that the original living standards of land-expropriated farmers are not reduced and that the long-term livelihood is guaranteed. Such a regulation changes the past practice of determining land compensation based on the original purpose of land acquisition, and determining land compensation and resettlement subsidies based on the multiple of annual output value method. The original multiple method of land annual output value is replaced by the comprehensive land price of the area. In addition, on the basis of the original three items of land compensation, resettlement compensation, and ground attachments, rural villagers' residential compensation and social security fees are added. This creates a more complete legal protection system for landless farmers.

The third is to improve the land expropriation procedures and change the original post-approval announcement to the pre-approval announcement, mainly to give farmers whose land has been expropriated more rights to participate, supervise and speak in the entire process.

In terms of the entry of collective commercial construction land into the market, this revision of the law has removed the legal obstacles for rural collective construction land to enter the market. Article 43 of the original Land Management Law was deleted, which stipulates that any unit or individual who needs to use land must use state-owned land. Added provisions stipulate that rural collective construction land, if it complies with planning, is registered in accordance with the law, and has the consent of more than two-thirds of the members of the collective economic organization, can be transferred, leased, etc. to units or individuals other than rural collective economic organizations for direct use. At the same time, after users obtain rural collective construction land, they can also transfer it again through transfer, exchange, or mortgage.

“This is a major institutional innovation in the Land Management Law. It eliminates the dual system in which collective construction land cannot directly enter the market for many years, and removes institutional obstacles to the integrated development of urban and rural areas. The entry of collective commercial construction land into the market is the biggest highlight of this revision of the Land Management Law.” Wei Lihua said.

The entry of rural collective commercial construction land into the market has changed the original pattern in which only state-owned land can be used for construction land. What impact will this have on the next land supply pattern? Will it have any impact?

In this regard, Yang Heqing, deputy director of the Economic Law Office of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, said that the purpose of this revision of the Land Management Law, including the reform of collective commercial construction land entering the market, is to change and improve the existing land supply pattern of construction land. Originally, only state-owned construction land could enter the market for various construction projects. Now collectives are allowed to directly transfer and lease collective construction land for construction. This is a change in the land supply pattern.

Yang Heqing said that when collective commercial construction land is put on the market, the land that enters the market must first comply with the planning. The planning must be for industrial or commercial purposes, and must be registered in accordance with the law. Arrangements must be made in the annual land use plan every year. In addition, even after obtaining the right to use collective commercial construction land, the land rights holder must use the land according to the original planned use. Therefore, from these aspects, it will not have an impact on our land market.

In terms of homesteads, this revision of the law adds the requirement that each household has a residence on the basis of the original one-household-one-household requirement. Some rural villagers have settled in cities. Whether they are allowed to withdraw from their original homesteads in rural areas, this revision allows rural villagers who have settled in cities to voluntarily withdraw from their homesteads for a fee.

Wei Lihua said that it is a long process for farmers to become citizens to truly realize urbanization, and they must have enough patience during the entire process. If farmers don't want toIf a person wishes to withdraw from the homestead land, the local government cannot force him to withdraw from the homestead land, and it must be done on a voluntary and paid basis.