Rural Land System Reform Pilot Experiment in Pidu District: Background, Debate and Enlightenment

By combining top-level design with local pilot practices,rural land system reform,as an important priority on the agenda of deepening comprehensive reform,has accumulated a series of replicable and applicable experiences that are conducive to amendments to relevant laws.This paper takes stock of the basic experience of Pidu District in addressing typical problems arising in its rural land system reform and then investigates the inner link between the reform and the persistence of high housing prices in cities,the capital flowing to the countryside,and the rural revitalization program.Based on this analysis,the author puts forward three basic directions of the rural land system reform:remain committed to marketization,balance the interests of all parties and promote the development of rural industries.

Reform of Rural Land System from the Perspective of New Urbanization

In view of artificially high urbanization rate of China and possible causes,survey and data analysis methods were used to discuss reform of household registration system,and path for promoting rural land system reform. Results show that it is required to eliminate bottlenecks of land system in the advance of new urbanization process. In line with land system bottlenecks of new urbanization,it is recommended to take following measures.( i) Promoting land right confirmation centered land system reform.( ii) Weakening rural land ownership and stressing land use right.( iii) Establishing urban and rural integrated land market and putting an end to low cost urbanization road.( iv) Realizing asset value of rural construction land and tackling the problem of insufficient construction land.( v) Reforming the land expropriation system and increasing the share of gain in land value to farmers.( vi) Implementing different land policies to promote coordinated development of regional social economy.( vii) Establishing land circulation access system to ensure unchanged land use purpose and high efficient use.

Economic Logic of Development and Value Basis of Reform of China’s Rural Land System

The historical changes of China’s rural land system show that the allocation of rural land rights,as the most important agricultural production relationship,has a huge effect on the development of productivity. The essence of the rural land system is the allocation of rights.At this stage,China’s agricultural development is facing a series of challenges such as agricultural modernization,food security issues and arable land issues,and the reform of the rural land system is imperative,of which the focus is still on the enrichment and deepening of rural land rights. Based on this,the decisive role of the market in the allocation of rights is introduced and brought into play. While striving for development and efficiency,attention must also be paid to the security function and fair value of rural land.

Evaluating rural sustainable land use from a system perspective based on the ecosystem service value

Rural sustainable land use(RSLU) is important to China’s implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of rural revitalization strategy in China. Research on RSLU is key to understanding the impact of human activities on rural sustainability. This paper explored the evaluation method of RSLU from a system perspective based on the ecosystem service value(ESV). Three systems were proposed for consideration when conducting this evaluation method. One was the sustainability of the land system, the other was the sustainability of the ecoeconomic system, and the rest was the sustainability of the land-eco-economy system. Indicators including(1) land use intensity and land system stability,(2) gross domestic production(GDP), ESV, and the eco-economic harmony degree(EEHD), and(3) coupling degree and coupling coordination degree were used to analyze the sustainability of the land, eco-economic, and landeco-economic systems, respectively. An empirical research on Yanhe ecovillage was conducted and the study period extended from 2008 to 2020. The results showed that forest land had always accounted for more than 81.20% of the total area in Yanhe eco-village from 2008 to 2020, which greatly influenced land system stability and restricted economic development. This feature contrasted with RSLU. The total ESV of Yanhe eco-village declined by 1.60×106CNY during 2008–2020 because of land use changes. The EEHD was –0.01, which presented that there was a very slight unharmonious between ecology and economy. The coupling degree and coupling coordination degree showed that the development between the land and ecoeconomic systems exhibited a coupling coordination relationship. The results indicated that ecology and economy in Yanhe eco-village will change significantly in response to land use changes in rural areas, which further revealed the dynamic linkage between human beings and nature. Moreover, opposite variation tendencies in land system stability and ESV revealed that the contradiction between the high stability of the land system and well development of the eco-economic system. The results of this study implied that it is necessary and useful to integrate ESV into land management to achieve RSLU.

Reform Paths of Rural Land Property Rights System in the Context of Agricultural Modernization

The reform of rural land property rights system can promote large-scale and intensive agricultural production,improve the quality of laborers,improve agricultural production efficiency,increase farmers'income,and effectively promote the development of agricultural modernization.In the context of the reform of the"separation of three powers",the rural land property rights system still has problems in terms of ownership,use rights,disposal rights,and income rights,which affect the healthy development of agricultural modernization.In this situation,it is necessary to further clarify the subject of rural land ownership,thoroughly improve the right to use rural land,vigorously improve the right to dispose of rural land,effectively protect the right to benefit from rural land,and deeply promote the reform of the rural land property rights system in order to effectively promote the development of agricultural modernization.

Persistence and Change in the Rural Land System of Contemporary China

Contemporary China’s rural land institutions have gone through land reform,the cooperative movement,the People’s Commune movement and the household responsibility system.Their persistence and change can be explained through a“stickiness generation-stickiness dilution”analytical framework:institutional environment and path dependence constitute the generative inducement of institutional stickiness,and have an important role in the continuity of the rural land system;the penetration of informal institutions is a crucial variable in diluting institutional stickiness,with the interaction between informal and formal institutions running throughout the entire course of institutional change.Changes in mental concepts and ideology are important influences that strengthen,break down or build formal institutions.

Land use planning, sustainable food production and rural development: A literature analysis

In many countries agricultural land is a scarce resource, either due to natural conditions or because of competition over land. An increased need for food globally, changing environmental conditions and increased demand for environmentally sound agriculture and food systems, all require better integration of planning for rural land use and food production. A literature analysis was conducted including coding of 76 papers, to answer the question on how and to what extent, literature addresses the integration of land use policy and planning, and food system planning, in the context of sustainable rural development and agri-food production. The results indicate that land use and food system planning co-occur in literature, yet lacking the perspective of sustainable rural development, suggesting that integrated planning for sustainable rural land use and food systems needs to be strengthened. Food system research has largely focused on availability and access, or what can be associated with consumers, rather than rural land use. Likewise, the inclusion of food systems is neither common in rural land use planning nor in agricultural policies. Holistic planning for a sustainable food system may be suffering from a disjointed approach, e.g., planning for farmland may not have any links to planning for accessibility, consumer preferences or food marketing. Increased cooperation between stakeholders is necessary to break down the silos in the food system. Policies and plans for rural land use and agri-food production should be coordinated for the common goal of sustainability.

Impacts of Changes in Structure of Rural Land Property Rights on Agricultural Performance

In the reform process of the rural land property rights system,the incentive mechanism of the rural land property rights system has a crucial impact on the production activities of rural economic entities.Due to the different rights structures of the property rights system in different social and economic development stages,the land rights and interests enjoyed by rural economic subjects are different,and the degree of incentives for farmers is also different.This difference in incentives affects farmers investment in agricultural production factors,which in turn affects agricultural performance.This paper analyzes the incentive impacts of the structure of rural land property rights on the changes of farmers land rights and agricultural performance since the founding of the People s Republic of China,in order to further deepen the reform of the land system,protect the rights and interests of farmers,promote the modernization of agriculture and rural areas,and explore the realization form and operation mechanism of the rural collective land system in the new era.

Development Model and Characteristics of Rural Land Joint Stock-cooperative System

We introduce and analyze operating mechanism of three major rural land joint-stock cooperative systems in China,including community type(Nanhai model),collective leasing type(Ningxia Pingluo model) and joint operating type(Zhejiang Jiande model).Current rural land joint-stock cooperative system has following characteristics.Firstly,adhere to the collective ownership and household contract responsibility system in rural areas.Secondly,safeguard farmers' land contractual rights and interests.Thirdly,implement large-scale agricultural production and operation.Fourthly,carry out normative operation of farmers' cooperatives.On the basis of these,we point out such problems as backward technology and short of funds in development of rural land joint-stock cooperative system.Finally,we conclude that the development of rural land joint-stock cooperative system should fully draw lessons from foreign advanced experience,actively try new model like securitization of rural land,to explore a road suitable for current national conditions.

Contract System for Circulation of the Right to Rural Land Contractual Management

From the perspective of civil subject theory,law of value,comparative law and history of laws,the thesis expounds that the contract on the transfer of the contractual right of rural lands is in nature a civil contract instead of an administrative one.Then it explores the defects in the contract from the viewpoint of legal value goal,contract law and legal sociology,that is,the relevant provisions in Rural Land Contract Law and Explanations of Supreme People's Court about the Issues concerning the Laws Applicable to the Trial of Cases of Disputes over Rural Land Contracting go against the principle of free contracting and run counter to the legal value goal of justice,so they do not achieve good implementing effect.Finally,the thesis demonstrates and makes some practical legislative proposals to perfect the contract system for circulation of the right to operate constructed rural lands,aiming at improving the circulation rate through perfecting the contract of the right to rural land contractual management,solving the disputes in rural lands circulation and safeguarding the legitimate rights of the farmers.

Research on the Informatization Technology of Rural Residential Land Cadastral Data

Using innovative information means to form the digital management sys- tem of rural residential land is the key point to solve the difficult and hot issues in rural residential land management. In view of the diversity, large quantity, and preservation with paper of rural residential land data, a new method for automatic cutting and classification of digital images based on the image data source and us- ing the image processing algorithm and Python programming was proposed in order to achieve rapid and accurate collection and digital storage of rural residential land cadastral data. Using this method, digital image automatic cutting and classification were realized, and the efficiency and accuracy of this method was validated by comparing with the non-support free shooting method and manual image process- ing. The experimental results showed that the efficiency of the data acquisition of the fixed shooting method was 4.24 times of that of the non-support free shooting method with the accuracy rate increasing by 7.1%, and the efficiency of automatic image processing was 35 times of that of manual processing. Based on rapid and accuracy data acquisition, this method realized the automatic processing of digital images, which provided a reference for the research of informatization technology of the whole rural residential land data and has the value of popularization and appli- cation.

Study on the Feasibility of the Calculation Methods of Consolidating Rural Residential Land into Arable Land in China

Since the increasing demand for arable land and low efficient and disordered use of rural residential land,land consolidation for rural settlement has become a hot issue in China.Many Chinese scientists studied the topic from different angles.However,there is no reference systematically summarizing and discussing feasibility of consolidating rural residential land into arable land.The authors listed and analyzed the calculation methods of consolidating rural residential land into arable land,and discussed the feasibility and reasonability of those methods.Moreover,this paper put forward the study orientation in this regard for providing references for relevant researches.

Problems in Rural Land Management Right Confirmation Pilots and the Countermeasures

The affirmation registration and certification of land contracted management right are the essential conditions for the effective promotion of land management right circulation and the development of agricultural moderate scale management. However, the following problems are found in the process of the pilot work： insufficient propaganda work, inconsistent recognition of affirmation registration work, low enthusiasm of grass-roots work; lack of unified regulations, each company working on their own; requiring large amount of manpower and resources for rural land contracted management rights, and severe shortage of national and municipal inputs; incomplete land ownership information and lack of marks between land plots, leading to resolving difficulty of the disputes; urgent need of strengthening subsequent work, untimely adjustment of related policies. Therefore, it needs to intensify propaganda, so that farmers can know the land right confirmation registration and certifi- cation, and recognize its importance; unify the introduction of job specification and results storage standard, making it convenient for the unified use of the results unified; set up special funds, and make experiments first in the areas with better economic conditions; establish arbitral institutions for land ownership disputes; earnestly make great effort to the supporting and subsequent work for right confirmation registration, and give full play to the role of land registration results.

Research on Rural Collective Land Ownership Confirmation Based on Unified Registration of Real Estate

Rural collective land ownership registration is a basic work to safeguard farmers＇ land rights and interests, and promote rural reform and development, which involves the vital interests of the peasants, and has great influence on the rural economic and social development. However, there are many problems in rural col- lective land ownership registration and certification, such as unclear rural land own- ership subject and nature; not unified understanding of registration, no high enthusi- asm of the grass-roots work; prominent registration policy contradictions, serious shortage of investment, which seriously affect the rural land ownership registration work. In order to solve these problems, some suggestions are put forward on pro- moting the rural land ownership registration work smoothly.

The Major Problems and the Governmental Role in Chinese Rural Land Transfer

On the basis of clarifying and defining rural land transfer, the necessity of rural land transfer is analyzed. Land transfer is the necessity in terms of promoting agricultural scale operation and improving production efficiency; proving opportunities for narrowing urban and rural gap; realizing rural surplus labor transfer and facilitating urbanization. Major problems in the existing rural land transfer are analyzed:unclear laws and regulations and rural land transfer lacks relevant legal protection;rural social security system is imperfect and can not solve farmers' worries after land transfer; farmers and local governments are restricted by traditional ideas and it is hard to carry out the land transfer policies; rural system construction is relatively backward and the rural land transfer market is immature. Countermeasures on the governmental behaviors in rural land transfer are put forward: stipulating relevant administrative laws and regulations and perfecting the political system of rural land transfer; perfecting rural social security system and solving farmers' worries after land transfer; changing the ideas and working style of local officials and leading farmers to form the scientific land transfer outlook;and vigorously promoting the construction of system and positively cultivating rural land transfer market.

Establishment of Rural Housing Land Standard in China

On the basis of rural household survey in 12 provinces of China in 2005,this research built an econometrical model to find the area standard for rural housing land.This standard is expected to facilitate rural housing land administration,efficient and intensive housing land use and policy making.This research concludes:1) according to the household survey data,the average area for rural housing land in China is about 235.26 m 2,and the rural housing land mainly includes unused land(42.89%) and house construction land(37.76%) with the average floor-area ratio of 0.42;2) the indexes in the standard concern the factors such as location,landform,house form,household population and cultivated land area per farmer,which all have significant effects on rural housing land use;3) the reasonable area for rural housing land may be 150 m 2 in average before 2020,and the referential standards in different provinces are 120 m 2,130 m 2,140m 2,150 m 2,160 m 2,170 m 2,190 m 2,200 m 2,210 m 2,220 m 2,230 m 2 and 250 m 2 respectively;and 4) if there are less than two persons or more than five persons in a family,these standards need to be decreased or increased by 7%.When the cultivated land area per farmer is lower than the provincial average,the standards have to reduce by 3.5%.

Analysis of the Impact of Rural Land Transfer on Farmers' Income:A Case Study of Farmers in Zaozhuang City

Based on the survey of household data in Zaozhuang City,Shandong Province,this paper empirically demonstrates the effect of the rural land transfer system on the income and income structure of farmers. The studies have shown that the rural land transfer system reform has positive influence on income structure,wage income and property income of farmers. However,from the field survey,it is concluded that the organization effect and mortgage effect of the rural land transfer system reform are not significant.

Main Problems and Government Action in Rural Land Circulation of China

On the basis of introducing and defining the concept of rural land circulation,this paper discussed the inevitability of rural land circulation in China and analyzed the main problems in the rural land circulation. Finally,it came up with some pertinent recommendations for the government in the rural land circulation in China,including formulating the relevant administrative rules and regulations,improving the rural land circulation policy system,improving the rural social security system and relieving the worry of farmers in land circulation,energetically promoting institutional construction,and actively cultivating rural land circulation market.

Research on driving forces for rural settlement land changes in China

During the rapid urbanization period, the contradiction between demand for the construction land and the preservation of cultivated land for food security is getting more and more serious in China. With the urbanization the rural settlement land is increasing instead of decreasing; This paper aims at.finding the driving forces for rural settlement land expanston. Based on land use change survey data （1996-2006） by the Ministry of Land and Resources P. R. C., this paper find, that per capita area for rural settlement land is more than per capita area for city; township and industrial land in each province except Tibet. Besides, rural settlement land area and per capita rural settlement land area are increasing while the rural poputation is decreasing in most provinces. The main problems of rural settlement land use are low efficiency, high vacancy rate, chaotic layout and illegal occupancy. Then the driving forces [br rural settlement land expansion, including economic development, family income, family scale, psychological factors, urbanization, transportation, lack of planning, limited circulation of dwelling-house land and imperfect sociat security, ate explored based on above analysis, Finalty, policy recommendations, in view of different influencing factors, are put forward to control the disorder expansion of rural setttement land.

Promoting Poverty Alleviation through the Project of Linkage of Urban Construction Land Increase with Rural Construction Land Decrease——A Case Study of Binchuan County in Yunnan Province

The policy of linkage of urban construction land increase with rural construction land decrease is an important task for poverty alleviation. It not only promotes the intensive use of land and the coordinated development of urban and rural areas,but also plays an essential role in poverty alleviation development and the relocation of poverty alleviation. It provides a strong guarantee for winning the project of poverty alleviation. Taking the project of linkage of urban construction land increase with rural construction land decrease in Binchuan County in Yunnan Province,combined with the current situation of poverty alleviation and relocation in Binchuan County,the implementation of related policies of linkage of urban construction land increase with rural construction land decrease,and path of relocation poverty alleviation,this paper introduced problems in the implementation of policies of linkage of urban construction land increase with rural construction land decrease in Binchuan County,and came up with recommendations for the project of poverty alleviation through linkage of urban construction land increase with rural construction land decrease.