Resource information
These Regulations issued in implementation of article 56 of the Land Management Law, provide for (a) registration of landownership and land-use rights; (b) the systematic surveying of lands, land-use planning, and other mechanisms to control land use; (c) procedures for the expropriation of land needed for public construction purposes; (d) restrictions on the use of agricultural land for housing purposes; and (e) criteria for the determination of the kind and amount of fines payable for offences committed under the principal Law. The Regulations have become effective on 1 February 1991 (art. 40). At the outset, the Regulations clarify what kinds of land are susceptible to State or people's ownership. This important definition groups all urban lands, rural and peri-urban lands which have been confiscated, requisitioned, purchased or nationalized; and forest lands, grasslands, mountains, wasteland, shoals, foodland, and other types of lands which are not the object of collective ownership (art. 3). Ownership of collectively owned land, and user rights in state-owned land are to be registered with the government at county level or above. Upon registration, "collective land deeds" are issued confirming ownership of collective land, or "user certificates" are issued confirming user right in state-owned lands (art. 4). Any change in ownership or user rights as a result, inter alia, of transfer are to be duly recorded, and the relevant titles amended accordingly (art. 6). All disputes involving land-ownership and use rights are handled by the Government at the appropriate level (art. 8). The Regulations direct the central and the local governments to prepare, respectively, national and local land survey plans, leading to the establishment of a systematic land survey of the country (art. 9). A land grading system is to form part of the survey exercise (art.10). The Government is also directed to build up a land statistical system (art.11). The Regulations also provide in embryo for land-use planning mechanisms. The central and the local governments are directed to prepare, respectively, a national and local (i.e. at county and township levels) land-use plans (art. 12). In addition, the development of barren hills, wasteland and shoals, and the proposed conversion of farmland into non-farmland uses, are subject to a local government permit (arts. 13, 14). Detailed procedural rules govern the taking of land for public construction, railway, highway, oil or water piping, and emergency and disaster relief operations. The guiding principle in this matter is that a proposed taking must be economically justified and "reasonable". Concrete determinations are made by the competent local government authorities on the basis of this broad criterion (arts. 17-20). Compensation is expressly contemplated as part of the process (art. 18(b)), but mandatory language is employed only with reference to two specific cases (arts. 22 and 23). The use of agricultural farmland for housing projects is strictly regulated both if the project proponent is a villager and if he/she is a town resident. In both cases, the project is to be screened at different levels of authority, but no criteria are given to guide decisions (arts. 24-26). Among the offences under the principal Act which come under the fine-scoping provisions of the Rules are serious damage to the farming environment and causing land desertification, salinization and soil erosion through land development activities. In this latter case, the determination of the amount of the fine is left to the discretion of the local Government concerned (art. 34), while in the former reference is made to the provisions of separate regulations. The State Land Administration Bureau is designated to administer the Rules (art. 2).
Implements: Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China. (2004-08-28)
Repealed by: Regulations for the implementation of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (98). (1998-12-27)
