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. 27

The "Measures for the Administration of Preliminary Examination of the Land Used for Construction Projects" 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 Preliminary Examination of the Land Used for Construction Projects" are hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of December 1, 2004.

Minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources Sun Wensheng

November 1, 2004

Measures for the Administration of Preliminary Examination of the Land Used for Construction Projects (Revised in 2004)

Article 1

For the purpose of guaranteeing the implementation of the overall planning on land utilization, bringing into full play the macro-control function of land supply and controlling the total amount of the land used for construction, the present Measures are formulated in accordance with the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulation on 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 Rigidly Enforcing Land Administration.

Article 2

The preliminary examination of the land used for construction projects, as referred to in the present Measures, shall mean the examination lawfully conducted by the administrative department of land and resources on land utilization matters involved in construction projects at the stages of examination, ratification and archiving of construction projects.

Article 3

The preliminary examination shall abide by the following principles:

(1)

according with the overall planning on land utilization;

(2)

protecting cultivated land, especially basic farmland;

(3)

utilizing land rationally and intensively; and

(4)

complying with the land supply policies of the state.

Article 4

The land used for construction projects shall be subject to preliminary examination at different levels.

The construction projects, which need to be examined and approved by the people's government or by the development and reform department and etc. of the people's government that has approval power, shall be preliminarily examined by the administrative department of land and resources of the people's government.

The construction projects, which need to be ratified and archived, shall be preliminarily examined by the administrative department of land and resources at the same level with the ratification and archiving organ.

Article 5

For a construction project that needs to be examined and approved, the entity using the land for construction shall file an application for preliminary examination at the stage of feasibility study.

For a construction project that needs to be ratified and archived, the entity using the land for construction shall file an application for preliminary examination before applying for ratification and archiving.

Article 6

For a construction project that shall be preliminarily examined by the Ministry of Land and Resources as required by Article 4 of the present Measures, the Ministry of Land and Resources shall entrust the administrative department of land and resources at the provincial level at the locality of the project to accept the application. However, if the construction project occupies land within the scope of urban land for construction use as determined in the planning, the administrative department of land and resources at the city level shall be entrusted to accept the application. After acceptance of the application, the said administrative department shall advance its opinions from preliminary examination, and transfer and submit them to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

As to the land used for secret-involving military projects or particular construction projects approved by the State Council, the entity using the land for construction may directly file an application for preliminary examination to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

The small-size fragmentary land used for construction projects such as electrical wire tower bases, well drilling positions, communication stations and etc., of which the preliminary examination ought to be finished responsibly by the Ministry of Land and Resources, shall be preliminarily examined by the administrative department of land and resources at the provincial level and be reported to the Ministry of Land and Resources for archival purposes.

Article 7

When applying for preliminary examination, any entity using the land for construction shall submit the following documents:

(1)

the application form for preliminary examination of the land used for the construction project;

(2)

the application report for preliminary examination including the basic information on the planned construction project, the planned location, the planned total scale and type of land use and the initial plan on supplementing cultivated land; and

(3)

In the case of a construction project that needs to be examined and approved, the approval document of the project proposal and the project feasibility study report shall be submitted. If the approval document of the project proposal and the project feasibility study report are combined, only does the project feasibility study report need to be submitted.

The application form for preliminary examination as prescribed in Paragraph 1 of this Article, shall be uniformly formulated by the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Article 8

When transferring and submitting the application for preliminary examination on use of land, the administrative department of land and resources entrusted by the Ministry of Land and Resources to be responsible for preliminary examination shall provide the following documents:

(1)

opinions from preliminary examination including whether the planned land use for the construction project accords with the overall planning on land utilization, whether it accords with the policies of the state on land supply, whether the standard and the total scale of the land to be used conform to the relevant provisions, and whether the initial plan on supplementing cultivated land is feasible, and so on;

(2)

the drawing on overall planning at the county level or above on land utilization, which indicates the scope of land used for the project, and other relevant drawings; and

(3)

Where, under the circumstances as prescribed in Article 26 of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, the land used for a construction project demands to amend the overall planning on land utilization, such materials shall be submitted as the amended planning which has been demonstrated by the relevant departments and experts, the evaluation report on the impacts of the construction project to the implementation of the planning and the minutes of the hearing on amending the planning.

Article 9

The administrative department of land and resources shall accept and take over the applications for preliminary examination that accord with Article 7 of the present Measures, and the transferred and submitted documents from preliminary examination which accord with Article 8 . Where any application or document falls short of the provisions, the administrative department of land and resources shall either at the spot or within 5 days inform the applicant or the organ that has transferred and submitted the documents in written form. If the department fails to inform, the application or document shall be deemed as having been accepted and taken over.

The administrative department of land and resources entrusted by the Ministry of Land and Resources to be responsible for the preliminary examination shall, within 20 days as of acceptance of the application, finish preliminary examination, and transfer and submit the application to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

Article 10

The preliminary examination shall mainly include:

(1)

Whether the selected locality of the land used for construction projects accords with the overall planning on land utilization; and whether it confirms to the conditions prescribed in laws and regulations on land administration;

(2)

Whether the construction project accords with the policies of the state on land supply;

(3)

Whether the standard and total scale of the land used for the construction project accord with the relevant provisions;

(4)

Whether the initial plan on supplementing cultivated land is feasible and whether the funds are guaranteed if any cultivated land is occupied; and

(5)

In the case of any land used for a construction project under the circumstances as prescribed in Article 26 of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, which demands to amend the overall planning on land utilization, whether the proposal on amending the planning, the evaluation report on the impacts of the construction project to the implementation of the planning and etc. accord with the laws and regulations.

Article 11

The administrative department of land and resources shall, within 20 days as of acceptance of the application for preliminary examination or as of receipt of the transferred and submitted documents, finish the examination and issue its opinions from preliminary examination. If it fails to issue its opinions from preliminary examination within 20 days, the period may be extended for ten days more with approval of the responsible person of the administrative department of land and resources in charge of the preliminary examination.

Article 12

The opinions from preliminary examination shall include the conclusive opinions on the contents prescribed in Article 10 of the present Measures, and the concrete requirements on the entity using the land for construction.

Article 13

The opinions from preliminary examination are the must documents for the approval and checkup of a construction project. The requirements in the opinions from preliminary examination in such aspects as the standard and the total scale of the land to be used and etc. shall be taken into full consideration at the stage of initial design of the construction project.

The entity using the land for construction shall carefully and earnestly implement the opinions from preliminary examination, and shall, when applying for using the land according to law, issue a written document on earnestly carrying out the opinions from preliminary examination.

Article 14

The period of validity of a preliminary examination document of the land use for a construction project shall be two years as of the approval date. Where, in a preliminarily examined project, major adjustments need to be made such as the purpose of the land, the locality of the construction project and etc., the party concerned shall apply for preliminary examination again.

Article 15

The preliminary examination shall be finished according to the present Measures prior to the ratification or examination and approval of a construction project. If the construction project has not been preliminarily examined or fails to pass the preliminary examination, the party concerned shall not be approved to convert the land for agricultural use into that for construction use or to have the land requisitioned, nor shall it be permittedor to go through the land supply procedures.

Article 16

The present Measures shall come into force as of December 1, 2004.