China Issues Opinions on Advancing the Pilot Program for a Further 30-Year Extension of the Second Round of Rural Land Contracts

Recently, the General Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council have issued the Opinions on Advancing the Pilot Program for a Further 30-Year Extension upon the Expiration of the Second Round of Rural Land Contracts (the "Opinions").

The Opinions emphasize firmly upholding the fundamental task of properly handling the relationship between farmers and land, and taking the protection of lawful rights and interests of farmers as both the starting point and ultimate objective. They set out "four commitments," including unwavering upholding the collective ownership and the farmer household contractual management system. The Opinions stress the principle of advancing the pilot program for contract extension in a prudent and orderly manner, adhering to the approach of "maintaining overall stability with limited adjustments." The foremost requirement is to uphold the principle of extension. Based on the results of the confirmation and registration of rights to contractual management of land and the issuance of certificates, the contract term shall be extended for another 30 years, starting from the expiration of the second round of rural land contracts. The extension shall be implemented on a household basis to ensure that the vast majority of rural households retain stability in their originally contracted land. There shall be no wholesale redistribution, reallocation, or arbitrary readjustment of contracted land, nor shall any contracted land be unlawfully taken back under the pretext of adjustment. For a small number of villages or groups where contracted land has been damaged due to natural disasters or other special circumstances and where there is broad consensus among villagers for adjustment, limited and appropriate adjustments may be carried out between individual households in accordance with the law and regulations, on the premise of maintaining overall stability.



(Source: https://www.gov.cn/yaowen/liebiao/202603/content_7063137.htm)

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