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5 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
other services to meet educational and cultural needs) to begin with) is not to be reassigned to industrial or commer-
for urban and rural residents; and cial purposes, and should neither be “left idle or deserted.”5
3. raise the income for farmers by the means of new
measures (supporting more professional farmers, e Ministry of Agriculture additionally noted that “in
expanding their business scale and making them more 2003, due to some tendency in some localities toward ne-
competitive in the global market).33 glecting basic farmland protection in recent years, the Chi-
nese Government issued the Circular on Further Measures to
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, “in 2013 per Implement Strict Farmland Protection System,” in an oblique
capita net income of rural residents reached 8896 yuan. reference to the land appropriations by authorities looking to
Among the four elements in rural residents’ income, the fast- resell the land for pro t, a signi cant cause of social unrest in
est growing one is property income, with an increased of 17.7 rural areas. 5
% over the previous year, followed by wage income, an in-
crease of 16.8 %, while transfer income increased by 14.2 % e result of the circular was that “e orts have been made
, and family-run income, 7.4%.. e total number of China’s to rectify and straighten out various kinds of development
migrant workers in 2013 was 26,894 million with an increase zones, and resolutely reverse any illegal establishment of de-
of 633 million compared with that of last year, increased by velopment zones and expansion of the areas the development
2.4 percent, among which local migrant workers were 10,284 zones occupy.”5
million, increased by 3.6 percent. e average income of
migrant workers was ¥2609 per month, with an increase of Xinhua subsequently reported that “More than 50,000
13.9% over the previous year.” 43 land dispute cases arose in 224 cities and counties across the
country from 2003 to March 2008.”36
A stated, tangible goal of increasing net per capita income
in rural regions by seven percent in real terms over the next e State Council also got involved, having issued the
Circular of the State Council on Strengthening Land Control
ve years has been articulated by the National Development (Guo Fa [2006] No. 31) in 2006, half-way through the period
and Reform Commission.34 of study reported by Xinhua.37
At the same time, the government is inching towards in- e Wall Street Journal suggests that reform e orts are still
creased assistance for the welfare of rural families. On Septem- necessary, citing a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report
ber 11, 2013, the National Family Planning Council released that 65 percent of the estimated 187,000 “mass incidents”
an announcement on the work of New Rural Cooperative (demonstrations or protests) in 2010 were related to land
Medical System, which stated that “from 2013, the new rural disputes.38
cooperative medical system subsidy from nancial depart-
ment at all levels should be increased from ¥240 per person In 2011, the State Council promulgated further measures
per year to ¥280 per person per year, and the reimbursement to “correct procedural errors in the rural land use reform,”39
rate for hospitalization expenses covered by related policies with China Daily reporting Premier Wen Jiabao’s remarks that
should be increased to about 75%. In 2013, the new rural co- “regional authorities must protect farmers’ rights” and that no
operative medical system was not con ned to the local region land should ever be taken “against a farmer’s will.”40
and the reimbursement can be made in di erent provinces.
Nine provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Inner e World Bank also concurs that land reforms in China
Mongolia, Jilin and Jiangsu were the rst ones that had cross- are “likely to have the largest growth impact. Land is of cen-
province reimbursement.” 44 tral importance to China’s economic growth and social sta-
bility, but local implementation of land policies has led to
Ongoing Land Reform unintended consequences widely viewed as unsustainable
Rural land reform continues to be an issue of great im- (Urban China (World Bank and DRC, 2014)). Rigid land
policies have e ectively tied half the population to rural ar-
portance to a great number of people in China. While urban eas that produce only 10 percent of GDP. Rural land is held
housing has been essentially privatized for more than a decade in small parcels, making it di cult to assemble economically
(although land still o cially belongs to the State), reform in sized farms, increase agricultural productivity, and raise rural
rural areas—and particularly with regard to arable land—has incomes. e 2008 global economic crisis and the subsequent
been slower.35 accommodative scal policy stance have had a dramatic e ect
China’s land-based economic growth model through acceler-
In response to overzealous appropriation of agricultural land ated land taking and conversion, bringing the ine ciencies
by localities, the “Regulation on Protecting Basic Farmland” of current land tenure arrangements and the need for reform
was enacted in 1994, with an amendment in 1999. e regula- into even clearer focus.” 41
tion stipulates, basically, that agricultural land (which is scarce
However, it also cautions that reforms to land, public -
102 nance and the hukou system “require a carefully coordinated
approach. Reforms need to recalibrate the use of land, im-
other services to meet educational and cultural needs) to begin with) is not to be reassigned to industrial or commer-
for urban and rural residents; and cial purposes, and should neither be “left idle or deserted.”5
3. raise the income for farmers by the means of new
measures (supporting more professional farmers, e Ministry of Agriculture additionally noted that “in
expanding their business scale and making them more 2003, due to some tendency in some localities toward ne-
competitive in the global market).33 glecting basic farmland protection in recent years, the Chi-
nese Government issued the Circular on Further Measures to
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, “in 2013 per Implement Strict Farmland Protection System,” in an oblique
capita net income of rural residents reached 8896 yuan. reference to the land appropriations by authorities looking to
Among the four elements in rural residents’ income, the fast- resell the land for pro t, a signi cant cause of social unrest in
est growing one is property income, with an increased of 17.7 rural areas. 5
% over the previous year, followed by wage income, an in-
crease of 16.8 %, while transfer income increased by 14.2 % e result of the circular was that “e orts have been made
, and family-run income, 7.4%.. e total number of China’s to rectify and straighten out various kinds of development
migrant workers in 2013 was 26,894 million with an increase zones, and resolutely reverse any illegal establishment of de-
of 633 million compared with that of last year, increased by velopment zones and expansion of the areas the development
2.4 percent, among which local migrant workers were 10,284 zones occupy.”5
million, increased by 3.6 percent. e average income of
migrant workers was ¥2609 per month, with an increase of Xinhua subsequently reported that “More than 50,000
13.9% over the previous year.” 43 land dispute cases arose in 224 cities and counties across the
country from 2003 to March 2008.”36
A stated, tangible goal of increasing net per capita income
in rural regions by seven percent in real terms over the next e State Council also got involved, having issued the
Circular of the State Council on Strengthening Land Control
ve years has been articulated by the National Development (Guo Fa [2006] No. 31) in 2006, half-way through the period
and Reform Commission.34 of study reported by Xinhua.37
At the same time, the government is inching towards in- e Wall Street Journal suggests that reform e orts are still
creased assistance for the welfare of rural families. On Septem- necessary, citing a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report
ber 11, 2013, the National Family Planning Council released that 65 percent of the estimated 187,000 “mass incidents”
an announcement on the work of New Rural Cooperative (demonstrations or protests) in 2010 were related to land
Medical System, which stated that “from 2013, the new rural disputes.38
cooperative medical system subsidy from nancial depart-
ment at all levels should be increased from ¥240 per person In 2011, the State Council promulgated further measures
per year to ¥280 per person per year, and the reimbursement to “correct procedural errors in the rural land use reform,”39
rate for hospitalization expenses covered by related policies with China Daily reporting Premier Wen Jiabao’s remarks that
should be increased to about 75%. In 2013, the new rural co- “regional authorities must protect farmers’ rights” and that no
operative medical system was not con ned to the local region land should ever be taken “against a farmer’s will.”40
and the reimbursement can be made in di erent provinces.
Nine provinces and municipalities, including Beijing, Inner e World Bank also concurs that land reforms in China
Mongolia, Jilin and Jiangsu were the rst ones that had cross- are “likely to have the largest growth impact. Land is of cen-
province reimbursement.” 44 tral importance to China’s economic growth and social sta-
bility, but local implementation of land policies has led to
Ongoing Land Reform unintended consequences widely viewed as unsustainable
Rural land reform continues to be an issue of great im- (Urban China (World Bank and DRC, 2014)). Rigid land
policies have e ectively tied half the population to rural ar-
portance to a great number of people in China. While urban eas that produce only 10 percent of GDP. Rural land is held
housing has been essentially privatized for more than a decade in small parcels, making it di cult to assemble economically
(although land still o cially belongs to the State), reform in sized farms, increase agricultural productivity, and raise rural
rural areas—and particularly with regard to arable land—has incomes. e 2008 global economic crisis and the subsequent
been slower.35 accommodative scal policy stance have had a dramatic e ect
China’s land-based economic growth model through acceler-
In response to overzealous appropriation of agricultural land ated land taking and conversion, bringing the ine ciencies
by localities, the “Regulation on Protecting Basic Farmland” of current land tenure arrangements and the need for reform
was enacted in 1994, with an amendment in 1999. e regula- into even clearer focus.” 41
tion stipulates, basically, that agricultural land (which is scarce
However, it also cautions that reforms to land, public -
102 nance and the hukou system “require a carefully coordinated
approach. Reforms need to recalibrate the use of land, im-
