Farmers' Rights to Land Not to Be Violated by Anyone

Farmers' rights to the land are property rights conferred by law, and these rights must not be violated by anyone, says a government report to be delivered by Premier Wen Jiabao on Monday.

"We will place farmland under strict protection, and formulate and promulgate regulations concerning compensation for the expropriation of rural collective land," says the report distributed to the media before the opening of the annual session of the 11th National People's Congress (NPC).

The report says the government must continue to make solving problems related to agriculture, rural areas, and farmers a top priority in all of its work.

The central government plans to allocate 1.2287 trillion yuan (about US$195 billion) for agriculture, rural areas and farmers, 186.8 billion yuan (about US$29.5 billion) more than last year, it says.