Rural reform should aim at strengthening property rights

Rural land issues have been being under heated discussion since last year's Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee announced plans to deepen reform of rural land policy. The third plenum was followed by "Document No.1 of the Central Government" for the year 2014, which set out a number of specific measures for conducting the reforms. These developments are widely seen as the strongest signal of a commitment to push forward rural land reform since a decision to carry out an overall reform of agriculture and rural affairs was made at the Third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee in 2008.

Rural land policy is not just about resource allocation, but also plays a crucial role in protecting farmers' property rights. It is also a sensitive issue that can trigger protests and even uprisings, as the history of many countries, including China, demonstrates. According to reports, the majority of complaint letters and petitions in recent years resulted from rural land expropriations and house demolitions. Poor compensation for the loss of land helps feed the ever greater disparity between the rich and the poor, as property developers make vast profits at the expense of landless or homeless farmers. It is for these reasons that the central government must show determination to carry out reforms that will both serve social justice and avert social conflicts that arise from land disputes. Land policy reform can also promote urbanization and the modernization of agriculture. Clear and well-protected land property rights will not only benefit farmers, but are also crucial for the establishment of an effective market economy.

Li Yining, a renowned professor from Peking University's Guanghua School of Management, recently published an opinion on the reform of property rights. After carrying out an investigation in Zhejiang Province, he concluded that registration and confirmation of rural land property rights is the most important element in the process of agricultural and rural reform. He attributed many good outcomes in Zhejiang to the confirmation and registration of rural property rights, including an acceleration of land transfers, a decrease in income disparity between farmers and city residents, and even an increase of the land area under cultivation. What does the term "property rights" specifically mean in this context? Why is it so important to confirm and register farmers' property rights?