“The people do not eat unless they eat grains, and they do not produce food unless they are grown.” General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly pointed out: “The root of ensuring national food security lies in arable land, and arable land is the lifeblood of food production.”
June 25 is the thirty-second National Land Day. The theme of this year’s Land Day is “Conservation and Intensive Use of Land and Strictly Observing the Red Line of Cultivated Land”. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, my country’s land resource utilization level has been steadily improved, the construction land use area per unit of GDP has continued to decline, and the national permanent basic farmland has been brought to households. The red line, focusing on improving the level of economical and intensive land use, has strongly supported economic and social development.
Strictly abide by the red line of cultivated land to ensure national food security
The results of the third national land survey show that at the end of 2019, my country’s arable land area was 1.918 billion mu, and the per capita arable land area was 1.36 mu. At the same time, the spatial distribution of cultivated land resources in my country is uneven, and the overall quality is not high. Through the law enforcement of land guards and the inspection of cultivated land protection, it is found that the problem of illegal occupation of cultivated land still occurs from time to time. The relevant person in charge of the Department of Cultivated Land Protection and Supervision of the Ministry of Natural Resources said, “Firmly maintaining the red line of cultivated land is the foundation of ensuring national food security. We must take hard measures to strengthen the protection of cultivated land.”
Since 2018, a total of 290,700 land violation cases have been investigated and dealt with nationwide, and 14,047 people have been transferred to the discipline inspection and supervision organs for party discipline and government sanctions. The Ministry of Natural Resources directly or jointly investigated and dealt with 6 land violation cases, supervised the handling of 19 cases, and publicly notified 222 land violation cases.
Strictly adhere to the red line of cultivated land and take multiple measures. Strengthening the rule of law, the Land Administration Law and the Implementation Regulations of the Land Administration Law have been revised and promulgated and implemented, and the conversion of cultivated land to non-agricultural construction land and forest land, garden land and other agricultural land and agricultural facility construction land is strictly controlled. Strictly manage and control, and effectively implement the “balance of occupation and compensation” of cultivated land occupied by non-agricultural construction, clarifying the occupation of one to make up for one, to occupy the superior and to make up for the superior, and to occupy the paddy field to make up the paddy field. For forests, gardens and other agricultural land and agricultural facility construction land, the same quantity and quality of cultivated land that can be used stably for a long time must be supplemented within the year. The relevant person in charge of the Department of Agriculture and Protection of the Ministry of Natural Resources said, “The restoration of cultivated land must be carried out in a planned, targeted and rhythmic manner, and resolutely prevent simplification and one-size-fits-all.”
“The next step must be to make great efforts to promote the actual implementation of relevant measures.” The relevant person in charge of the Department of Farming and Protection of the Ministry of Natural Resources introduced that the legislative process such as the Law on Farmland Protection will be accelerated, and the party and government should be equally responsible for farmland protection. Requirements and policy measures such as the prohibitive regulations on “non-agriculturalization” and “non-food production” will be elevated to legal provisions, and a more scientific, concise and operable overall system will be established. At the same time, it is necessary to strictly control the use of cultivated land and implement the “two balances”. Strictly control the conversion of cultivated land into non-agricultural construction land, pay close attention to the authenticity of supplementary cultivated land, improve the quality inspection methods for newly added cultivated land, and strictly implement the balance of cultivated land occupation and compensation; Incoming and outgoing balance” to ensure that the cultivated land that can be used stably for a long time will not decrease.
Improve land use efficiency and promote high-quality development
At present, my country’s economy has shifted from a stage of high-speed growth to a stage of high-quality development. To promote the transformation of economic development mode, in terms of land use mode, we must no longer sacrifice land resources at the expense of excessive consumption of land resources. We must unswervingly change the mode of resource use, promote economical and intensive land use, optimize land use structure, and improve land use efficiency.
“To promote the economical and intensive use of land, it is necessary to establish and improve the corresponding incentive and restraint mechanism.” The relevant person in charge of the Natural Resources Development and Utilization Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources said, “In recent years, we have strictly controlled new additions and revitalized the stock. , improve incentives.”
Implementing the “additional deposit link” to promote the revitalization and utilization of the stock construction land. Reform the management method of land plans, and under the premise of strictly controlling the total amount and spatial distribution according to the plan, insist that the land elements follow the project, deepen the linking mechanism between the new plan and the revitalization of the stock land, and promote the local government to make great efforts to revitalize the stock. Up to now, a total of 13.72 million mu of land and 4.36 million mu of idle land have been disposed of before the end of 2018.
Raise the threshold for land expropriation and development, and control the scale of new construction land in cities and towns. According to the data, the newly added construction land during the “14th Five-Year Plan” will be controlled at 29.5 million mu, a decrease of 15% compared with the “13th Five-Year Plan”. Strictly review the quota standards for various construction projects, and further tighten development and utilization standards such as the building density of new industrial projects. Since 2017, the Ministry of Natural Resources has reviewed and reduced 365,300 mu of arable land and 51,700 mu of permanent basic farmland for construction projects.
“Whether it is to promote new industrialization and urbanization, or to comprehensively promote rural revitalization and the integrated development of rural primary, secondary and tertiary industries, land resources are needed for support. Under the premise of tight constraints on land resources, the whole society must enhance the awareness of economical and intensive use of land. Improve the efficiency of land use in an all-round way.” The relevant person in charge of the Utilization Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources introduced that in the future, the quota standards for land use in various industries will be comprehensively revised, and the rigid constraints of economical and intensive land use in the generation stage of major construction projects will be strengthened. Further improve the mechanism for linking incremental arrangements and digesting stocks, give full play to the role of the price mechanism in the allocation of land elements, actively explore the transformation of industrial land supply, and improve the market mechanism for revitalizing idle and inefficient industrial land. Steadily promote the entry of rural collectively-owned construction land into the market, and explore ways to effectively revitalize the stock of construction land in rural areas.
“Preserving arable land and promoting intensification are two aspects of the same problem.” The relevant person in charge of the Department of Farming and Protection of the Ministry of Natural Resources said that mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand are a community of life, and arable land itself is an ecological space and an important part of the ecosystem. Cultivated land is to protect the entire ecosystem; economical and intensive use can force the occupation of less cultivated land, while leaving more fertile land for agriculture, while releasing more ecological space, allowing the masses to see the mountains, see the water, remember their homesickness, and let the people see the mountains and water. The natural ecological beauty is always in the world, and it is also naturally quiet, harmonious and beautiful.