Di Wu
For implementing the spirit of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 19th CPC Central Committee and the Central Economic Work Conference, the State Council announced its decision to authorize and delegate land use approvals (the “Decision”) on March 2, 2020 in accordance with the Land Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China as part of the “delegation of power, simplification of administrative procedures and optimization of government services” reform of the land administration system, granting more decision-making authority in land use to the provincial people’s governments under the premise of strictly protecting arable lands and the economical and concentrated use of land:
1. Delegation of approvals for agricultural land other than permanent basic farmland
The State Council has delegated to the people’s governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the jurisdiction of the State Council with the authority to grant the approval of repurposing agricultural lands other than permanent basic farmlands as construction land. From the issuing date of this Decision, for cities whose comprehensive land utilization plan has been approved by the State Council, the State Council shall, in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 44 of the Land Administration Law of the People’s Republic of China, authorize the people’s governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council to grant approvals for repurposing agricultural land other than permanent basic farmland as construction land in batches according to the scope of construction land laid out in the annual land utilization plan. In accordance with paragraph 4 of the same provision, the State Council shall also authorize the people’s governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council to grant approvals for repurposing agricultural lands other than permanent basic farmlands as construction lands beyond the scope of construction land in cities, villages, and market towns as laid out in the comprehensive land utilization plan.
2. Delegation of approvals for repurposing basic farmland as construction land and the State Council’s authority to approve land expropriation
The State Council has also delegated to the people’s governments of certain provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council with the authority to approve of repurposing permanent basic farmland as construction land. From the issuing date of this Decision, plans to repurpose permanent basic farmland as construction land, as well as the expropriation of arable land other than permanent basic farmland in excess of 35 hectares or other land exceeding 70 hectares, will be approved by the people’s governments of certain pilot provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the State Council. The first group of pilot provinces are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong, and Chongqing with a pilot period of one year. The specific implementation plan will be formulated by those people’s governments and reported to the Ministry of Natural Resources for recordation. The State Council will establish and improve the evaluation mechanism for the land use approval work conducted by the provincial people’s governments, the comprehensive results of which would then be used to make dynamic adjustments in the pilot provinces. The State Council may take back the delegation of authority to pilot provinces that performed poorly or failed the evaluation.