The State Council issued a circular on March 26 concerning the inter-provincial management of newly added arable land and spare construction land.

Management methods of newly added arable land

According to China’s arable land use policy, when a piece of arable land is used for non-agricultural purposes, another piece of arable land of the same quantity and quality should be provided to strike a balance.

For some municipalities and provinces with a serious shortage of arable land resources, when there is no additional arable land to make up the arable land loss as a result of necessary occupation, such as major projects construction, the lost land can be compensated in other provinces rich in arable land reserves.

Major projects here refer to projects in the fields of transportation, energy, water conservancy, the military and national defense.

The inter-provincial land compensation plan should be approved by the State Council.

The circular requires that inter-county arable land coordination should be taken as a primary solution, and intra-provincial management as a backup plan.

Provincial and municipal governments should apply for the national adjustment of newly added arable land, and the Ministry of Land and Resources is responsible for the follow-up assessment.

Construction units should pay for land reclamation when applying for construction, and provincial and municipal governments should pay for newly added arable land offered by other provinces.

The Ministry of Land and Resources will work with other departments to identify the proper provinces, and give priority to the old revolutionary bases, ethnic areas, frontier areas, poverty-stricken areas, and areas with outstanding performance in arable land protection.

The compensation standard is 50,000 yuan for each 0.067 hectare of newly added arable land and 100,000 yuan for each 0.067 hectare of paddy field. The compensation for standard grain production capacity of newly added arable land should follow the criteria of 10,000 yuan for 100 kilograms per 0.067 hectare.

The methods shall take effect from the date of issuance to Dec 31, 2022.

Management methods of spare construction land

The central government will be responsible for the inter-provincial management of spare quotas for construction land in poverty-stricken regions, the circular said.

According to China’s policy for the use of urban and rural construction land, the decrease in rural construction land should be linked with the increase of newly added urban construction land.

The poverty-stricken areas should avoid blind land reclamation and guarantee farmers’ lawful rights and interests while preserving local historical and cultural features, according to the circular.

The Ministry of Land and Resources is in charge of spare quota management.

Provinces that use the quotas should strictly control the expansion of construction land, and the quotas are not allowed to be used in the downtown areas of metropolises, the circular stated.

Extremely poverty-stricken areas should carry out land reclamation and resident relocation without destroying the ecological environment.

The methods shall take effect from the date of issuance to Dec 31, 2020.