Development of the Rural Land System

Abstract

Since reform and opening up, the development of China’s rural land system started first from the implementation of the household contract responsibility system in the countryside, evolving from being demand-induced to a top-to-bottom system of government supply. Having satisfied the prerequisite of fully respecting the willingness to change and pioneering spirit of rural population, the central government acknowledged and endowed the rights of rural population to operate contracted land, opened the rural land factor market, and began constructing a system to protect property rights to the land. At the same time, the government built and perfected a series of land management institutions, including restrictions on the usage of land. The outlook for the future is that the development of the rural land system will transition from single reforms into comprehensive reforms, from urban-rural segregation to urban rural integration, and the comprehensive construction of an integrated urban-rural land policy system.