Laws of the People's Republic of China

the Ministry of Land and Resources

Order of the Ministry of Land and Resources of the People's Republic of China

No. 26

The "Measures for the Administration of Annual Plans on the utilization of Land" were revised and adopted at the 9th ministerial meeting of the Ministry of Land and Resources on October 29, 2004. The revised "Measures for the Administration of Annual Plans on the utilization of Land" are hereby promulgated, and shall come into force on December 1, 2004.

Minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources Sun Wensheng

November 1, 2004

Measures for the Administration of Annual Plans on the Utilization of Land (2004 revised edition)

Article 1

These Measures are formulated in accordance with the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulation on the Implementation of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China and the Decision of the State Council on Deepening the Reform and Strictly Enforcing Land Administration in order to strengthen land administration, implement the overall planning on land utilization, control the total amount of land for construction use, guide intensive use of land, earnestly protect cultivated land, and guarantee sustainable economic and social development.

Article 2

The compilation, submission for approval, implementation of and supervision over the annual plans on the utilization of land shall be governed by these Measures.

The annual plan on the utilization of land as mentioned in these Measures shall mean the specific arrangements by the State in each planned year of the amount of land for agricultural use to be converted into that for other uses, the amount of cultivated land supplemented by land development and rehabilitation, and the amount of reserved cultivated land.

Article 3

The annual plans on the utilization of land shall be administered in compliance with the following principles:

(1)

Strictly complying with the overall planning on land utilization, controlling the total amount of land for construction use, and protecting cultivated land;

(2)

Guiding demands for land on the basis of land supply, as well as rationally and effectively utilizing land;

(3)

Giving priority to ensuring the land for the State's key construction projects and infrastructure projects;

(4)

Balancing the occupation and supplement of cultivated land;

(5)

Increasing land use in urban areas while reducing land use in rural areas for construction purposes; and

(6)

The ecological environment shall be protected and improved, and the sustainable utilization of land shall be guaranteed.

Article 4

The annual plan indexes of land utilization shall include:

(1)

the planned index on land conversion from agricultural use into construction use, which may be divided into the index of land for agricultural use occupied for urban and rural construction, and the index of land for agricultural use occupied for key construction projects of energy, traffic and water conservancy, etc., whose localities are independently selected.

(2)

the planned index of land development and rehabilitation, which may be divided into the index of supplementing cultivated land by land development and the index of supplementing cultivated land by land rehabilitation and reclaiming. And

(3)

the planned index of the amount of reserved cultivated land.

The land administration departments in all regions may, in light of the actual needs, add the controlling index on the basis of the above classification.

Article 5

In the annual plan on the utilization of land, the planned index on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes shall be determined pursuant to the plan on national economic and social development, the overall planning on land utilization, the policies of the state on land supply, and the actual situation on land utilization.

The planned index of land development and rehabilitation shall be determined on the basis of the overall planning on land utilization, the planning on land development and rehabilitation, and the facts on reduction of cultivated land due to construction, etc.

The planned index of the amount of reserved cultivated land shall be determined on the basis of the assessment targets on protection of cultivated land, which are released by the State Council to all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government.

Article 6

Where any land is to be used within the planned year for a key construction project which needs to be approved and ratified by the State Council or the national development and reform institution, etc., involving land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes, the competent authority of the said industry shall, prior to September 25 of the last year, provide its suggestions on the plan to the Ministry of Land and Resources according to the project, and at the same time submit the copies to the administrative department of land and resources and the development and reform department of the province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government where the land to be used for the project is located.

Article 7

The administrative department of land and resources of a local people's government at the county level or above shall, jointly with other relevant departments, and pursuant to the uniform arrangement of the state, propose its suggestions on the annual plan on the utilization of local land, and shall, upon examination by the people's government at the same level, report to the administrative department of land and resources of the people's government at the higher level.

The suggestions of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government on the annual plan on the utilization of land shall be submitted to the Ministry of Land and Resources prior to October 10 of each year, and copies thereof shall meanwhile be submitted to the National Development and Reform Commission. The suggestions of a city directly under state planning or of Xinjiang Production and Construction Group on the annual plan on the utilization of land shall be separately stated in the plan proposals of the relevant province or autonomous region.

Article 8

The Ministry of Land and Resources shall, jointly with the National Development and Reform Commission, and on the basis of the suggestions proposed from all regions and by the relevant institution under the State Council on the annual plan on the utilization of land, compile a draft of the national annual plan on the utilization of land, which shall be included into the draft of the annual plan on national economy and social development.

Article 9

The Ministry of Land and Resources shall, jointly with the National Development and Reform Commission, submit the draft of the annual plan on the utilization of land to the State Council. The said annual plan shall, after verification by the State Council, be released to all places and used as a reference for implementation. After the National People's Congress has examined and adopted the draft of the plan on national economic and social development, the plan approved by the National People's Congress shall come into force.

Article 10

The national annual plan on the utilization of land shall be released to all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities directly under state planning, and Xinjiang Production and Construction Group.

With respect to the planned index on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes, only the planned index of the land for agricultural use which is occupied by the projects for urban and rural (including independent industrial and mining areas) construction and the planned index of land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes, which is approved by the provincial authority, are required to be released. The planned index on the land for agricultural use which is occupied for any key construction project shall not be released to specific regions if the conversion of the land for agricultural use into that for construction use is to be approved and ratified by the State Council or by the national development and reform institution, etc. and be examined by the State Council for approval, however, such index may be used when the land used for a construction project is examined for approval.

Article 11

The administrative department of land and resources under a local people's government may divide the planned index of land utilization released by the superior authority, and release the divided index after approval of the people's government at the same level.

The administrative department of land and resources under a people's government at the provincial level shall, when dividing and releasing the plans, independently list the planned index on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes concerning the cities in the overall planning on land utilization, which has been approved by the State Council, and shall report the said index to the Ministry of Land and Resources for archival purposes.

Article 12

When any land for agricultural use is to be occupied by an unforeseeable key project in urgent need in respect of energy, traffic, water conservancy, etc., whose locality is independently selected, a flexible index of a small amount of land may be reserved.

Article 13

The planned index on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes shall be subject to mandatory administration, which may not be broken. If no planned index on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes is held, the competent authority may not approve the conversion of the land for agricultural use. In the plan on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes, the index of the land for agricultural use, which is occupied for urban and rural construction, may not be mixed with the index of the land for agricultural use, which is occupied by key construction projects of energy, traffic, water conservancy, etc., whose localities are independently selected. If no planned index on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes is held, but the competent authority discretionarily approves the conversion of the land for agricultural use into that for construction use, it shall be subject to liabilities for illegally approving the use of land.

The supplement of cultivated land by land development and rehabilitation shall conform to the index determined in the land development and rehabilitation plan.

The planned index of the amount of reserved cultivated land may be used for the inspection and assessment of the targets on protection of cultivated land. The amount of reserved cultivated land in the assessment year may not be lower than the planned index on the amount of reserved cultivated land.

Article 14

Once an annual plan on the utilization of land is approved to be released, it must be strictly implemented.

If, when implementing the annual plan on the utilization of land, the competent authority of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government indeed needs to raise the planned index on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes due to an unforeseeable key construction project, it may file an application to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Where it is necessary to add the plan on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes in a national annual plan on the utilization of land due to a particular circumstance, it shall be submitted to the State Council pursuant to the prescribed procedures for determination.

Article 15

The administrative department of land and resources of a local people's government at the county level or above shall apply desk-account management to the annual plan on the utilization of land, and make registration and statistics on the implementation of the said plan.

The implementation of the annual plan on the utilization of land shall be included into the comprehensive statistics on land and resources, and shall be reported to the superior authority at regular intervals.

Article 16

A superior administrative department of land and resources shall make assessment on the implementation by inferior ones of the annual plan on the utilization of land.

The assessment shall be made in combination with the comprehensive statistics on land and resources, the approval and archiving of land for construction use, the modification and survey of land utilization, dynamic monitoring of land utilization, and so on.

The assessment year of an annual plan on the utilization of land shall commence on January 1 and end on December 31 of each year.

Article 17

The results from assessment of the implementation of the annual plan on the utilization of land shall be considered as the basis for compiling the plan for the next year.

In case of unauthorized approval of use of land beyond the plan, if there have been two years since the land was requisitioned but no land is supplied, or if the task of balancing the occupation and supplement of cultivated land has not been fulfilled, the planned index of the next year on land use conversion from agricultural purposes into construction purposes shall be reduced accordingly.

Article 18

The surplus of land whose use to be converted from agricultural purposes into construction purposes of each province, autonomous region, municipality directly under the Central Government and city directly under state planning, and of Xinjiang Production and Construction Group may be, after ratification by the Ministry of Land and Resources, carried forward for use within the planning period.

Article 19

These Measures shall come into force on December 1, 2004.