China vows strictest land protection as stimulus package boosts land demand
3/12/2008 17:40
China has vowed the strictest land protection to avoid an increase in
illegal land uses and grabs as the government's economic stimulus package is
expected to boost land demand.
The same amount of land has to be replenished
first before existing arable land was allocated for non-farming use, Lu Xinshe,
deputy minister of land and resources, told reporters in Beijing today.
The
ministry would intensify supervision on land use, Lu said, and any unlawful land
seizure should be adjusted while the people responsible would be
punished.
Local government heads would also be held responsible if illegally
occupied arable land accounted for 15 percent or more of newly acquired land
within a given year, according to Lu.
The 4-trillion-yuan (US$584 billion)
stimulus package would bring pressure on the country's vow to guarantee a
minimum of 120 million hectares of arable land, he said.
The stimulus
package, announced early last month, included massive projects to build
low-income housing units, improve rural infrastructure, electricity supply and
transport networks.
The ministry would try to ensure land supply matched the
stimulus package while maintaining effective control and management to guarantee
the target of arable land protection, Lu said.
To avoid disputes, farmers
whose land is acquired for a development project should get "fair" compensation,
while their rights to know and to participate must be guaranteed during the
process, he said.
China had 121.7 million ha of arable land last year. It
aims to keep its arable land at 121 million ha by 2010 and no less than 120
million ha by 2020.
Xinhua
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