中国拟修改“土地管理法”

Chinese lawmakers will deliberate on amendments to the Land Administration Law.

The draft amendment proposes raising compensation for farmers whose collectively-owned land is expropriated and suggests stricter rules to manage excessive land expropriations.

Song Dahan, the director of the legislative affairs office of the State Council, admits problems do exist in land expropriation in China.

"The expropriation procedures need to be improved. The compensation mechanism is flawed: the standards are way too low and rigid. For those whose land has been expropriated, the guarantee for their long-term livelihood is insufficient. The forcible and illegal seizure of farmers' land threatens social stability."

The Land Administration Law, passed in 1986, has been revised twice, in 1988 and 2004.

According to the current law, compensation for rural collective land expropriations and relocations should be "no more than 30 times the average annual output of the land for three years before it is taken."

However, Song says the ceiling for compensation is not in accordance with the current economic situation.

"The compensation mechanism does not take other factors into consideration: for example the location of the land, the demand and supply situation, the farmers' employment and social security issues."

The draft amendment proposes that compensation cover more fields, including rural residences, relocation allowance, social security fees and young crops.

The amendment also states expropriation cannot be conducted before compensation has been paid out.

Concrete measures for land expropriation could be made by provincial-level regions under state laws and regulations.

In recent years, farmers' have held protests over land seizures across the country.

This has prompted calls for the better protection of farmers' property rights.