Regulation on the Implementation of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (2021 Revision)

Regulation on the Implementation of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (2021 Revision) 中华人民共和国土地管理法实施条例(2021修订) Order of the State Council of the People's Republic of China (No. 743) The Regulation on the Implementation of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, as revised and adopted at the 132nd executive meeting of the State Council on April 4, 2021, is hereby issued and shall come into force on September 1, 2021. Premier: Li Keqiang July 2, 2021 Regulation on the Implementation of the Land Administration Law of the Peoples Republic of China (Issued by Order No. 256 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on December 27, 1998, revised for the first time according to the Decision of the State Council on Repealing and Amending Some Administrative Regulations issued on January 8, 2011, revised for the second time according to the Decision of the State Council on Amending Some Administrative Regulations issued on July 29, 2014, and revised for the third time by Order No. 743 of the State Council of the People's Republic of China on July 2, 2021) Chapter I General Provisions Article 1 This Regulation is developed in accordance with the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the “Land Administration Law”). Chapter II Territorial Spatial Planning Article 2 The state shall establish a territorial spatial planning system. Land development, protection, and construction activities shall insist on the principle of planning coming first. Territorial spatial plans approved in accordance with the law shall be the primary basis for various activities of development, protection, and construction. Where a territorial spatial plan has been prepared, the comprehensive plan for land utilization and the urban-rural plan shall no longer be prepared. Before a territorial spatial plan is prepared, the overall plan for land utilization and urban-rural plan legally approved shall continue to be implemented. Article 3 A territorial spatial plan shall implement the requirements for territorial spatial development and protection proposed in the national development plan in a detailed manner, coordinate the layout of agricultural, ecological, urban and other functional spaces, and delimit and implement permanent basic farmland, ecological protection red lines and urban development boundaries. A territorial spatial plan shall include the territorial spatial development and protection pattern, and the requirements for the layout, structure, and use control of the planned land, specify the requirements for the total amount of cultivated land, the scale of construction land, and the scope for prohibited reclamation, coordinate the layout of land for infrastructure and public facilities, comprehensively utilize the overground and underground space, reasonably determine and strictly control the scale of new construction land, improve the level of land conservation and intensive use, and ensure the sustainable use of land. Article 4 Land survey shall contain the following contents: (1) Land ownership and changes therein. (2) Status quo of land utilization and changes therein. (3) Conditions of land. The results of the national land survey shall be announced to the public after being approved by the State Council. The local land survey results shall be announced to the public upon review by the people's government at the corresponding level and after being reported to the people's government at a next higher level for approval. After the results of national land survey are announced, the local people's governments at or above the county level may announce the results of land surveys in their respective administrative regions successively in a top-down manner. The results of land surveys are an important basis for the preparation of territorial spatial plans, as well as the management, protection and utilization of natural resources. The technical procedures for land surveys shall be developed by the competent department of natural resources of the State Council in conjunction with relevant departments. Article 5 The competent department of natural resources of the State Council shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments, develop the standards for land grade evaluation. The competent departments of natural resources of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, in conjunction with the relevant departments, evaluate land grades in accordance with the standards for land grade evaluation. Results of local land grade evaluation shall, upon review by the people's government at the same level, be announced to the public after being reported to the competent department of natural resources of the people's government at a higher level for approval. Land grades shall be re-evaluated every five years in accordance with the national economic and social development status. Article 6 The competent department of natural resources of the people's government at or above the county level shall strengthen information construction, establish a unified basic information platform for territorial space, implement information management throughout the entire process of land management, conduct dynamic monitoring of land use conditions, establish a land management information sharing mechanism with the development and reform, housing and urban-rural development, and other relevant departments, and disclose land management information in accordance with the law. Article 7 The competent departments of natural resources of the people's government at or above the county level shall strengthen the cadastral management, and establish and improve the cadastral database. Chapter IV Protection of Cultivated Land Article 8 The state shall implement the cultivated land compensation system. Where cultivated land is occupied with lawful approval within the scope of land for construction of cities, villages and market towns as determined in the territorial spatial plan, and cultivated land is occupied for construction projects of energy, transportation, water conservancy, mines, and military facilities, among others, with lawful approval beyond the scope of land for construction of cities, villages and market towns as determined in the territorial spatial plan, the county-level people's government, rural collective economic organization, and construction entity shall be responsible for reclaiming cultivated land of the quantity and quality equivalent to the cultivated land occupied; and where the conditions for reclamation are not met or the cultivated land reclaimed fails to satisfy the requirements, reclamation fees for cultivated land shall be paid according to the rules of the provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, exclusively for the reclamation of new cultivated land. The people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall organize the departments in charge of natural resources and competent departments of agriculture and rural areas to conduct acceptance check of the cultivated land to ensure that the cultivated land is precise to land parcel. Land defined as permanent basic farmland shall be included in the national permanent basic farmland database for strict management. The supplementary situation of the cultivated land occupied shall be announced to the public in accordance with the relevant rules of the state. Where individual provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government need to relocate cultivated land, the provisions of Article 32 of the Land Administration Law shall apply. Article 9 Entities or individuals are prohibited from carrying out land development activities in the scope prohibited for reclamation as determined in the territorial spatial plan. Whoever develops any state-owned barren hill, barren land or barren shoal whose land use right has not been determined for planting, forestry, animal husbandry or fishery production according to the territorial spatial plan shall file an application with the competent department of natural resources of the local people's government at or above the county level at the place where the land is located, which shall be subject to the approval of the local people's government at or above the county level according to the limits of powers as prescribed by the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government. Article 10 The people's governments at the county level shall, in accordance with the requirements of the territorial spatial plan for the overall planning of agricultural, ecological, urban and other functional spaces, develop land consolidation plans to promote the protection of cultivated land and the economical and intensive use of land. The people's governments of counties and townships (towns) shall organize rural collective economic organizations to implement land consolidation plans, and renovate and transform idle and abandoned land in a planned manner. Newly-added cultivated land through land consolidation may be used as supplement to the cultivated land occupied for construction. Social entities shall be encouraged to participate in land consolidation in accordance with the law. Article 11 The local people's governments at or above the county level shall adopt measures to prevent and control soil erosion and pollution of cultivated land, transform low- and medium-yield land in a planned way, build high-standard farmland, improve the quality of cultivated land, and protect high-quality cultivated land such as black soil, and make reasonable arrangements for soil utilization of the cultivated layer of cultivated land occupied by construction in accordance with the law. Where non-agricultural construction occupies permanent basic farmland in accordance with the law, the construction entity shall, in accordance with the rules of the province, autonomous region, and municipality directly under the Central Government, use the soil of the cultivated layer of the cultivated land occupied for soil improvement of newly reclaimed cultivated land, poor land or other cultivated land. The local people's government at or above the county level shall strengthen the guidance and management of the adjustment to the agricultural structure, to prevent damage to the cultivated layer of cultivated land; if the land for facility agriculture is no longer in use, it shall organize restoration of the planting conditions in a timely manner. Article 12 The state shall implement special protection of cultivated land, strictly guard the red line of protection of cultivated land, strictly control the transformation of cultivated land to forest land, grassland, garden land and other agricultural land, and establish a cultivated land protection and compensation system. The specific measures and implementation steps for protection and compensation of cultivated land shall be determined by the competent department of natural resources of the State Council, in conjunction with the relevant departments. Land for non-agricultural construction must be used sparingly. Where barren land may be used, cultivated land shall not be occupied; and where poor land may be utilized, good land shall not be occupied. It is prohibited to occupy cultivated land for building kilns and graves, or to build houses, dig sand, quarry, mine, or take soil on cultivated land without authorization. It is prohibited to occupy permanent basic farmland to develop forestry and fruit growing industry and dig ponds to raise fish. Cultivated land shall be used for the production of grain and agricultural products such as cotton, oil, sugar, and vegetables in priority. Where cultivated land needs to be turned into forest land, grassland, garden land and other agricultural land in accordance with the relevant provisions of the state, priority shall be given to the use of cultivated land that is difficult to be used stably for a long time. Article 13 The people's government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall assume overall responsibility for the protection of cultivated land in their administrative region, and its primary person in charge shall be the first person responsible for the protection of cultivated land in the administrative region. The people's government of a province, autonomous region, or municipality directly under the Central Government shall decompose and assign the total amount of cultivated land and tasks of protecting permanent basic farmland determined by the State Council to lower levels, and be precise to land parcel. The State Council shall assess the implementation of the responsibility targets of protecting people's governments by provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government. Chapter IV Land for Construction Section 1 General Rules Article 14 Where land needs to be used for a construction project, the requirements for territorial spatial plan, annual land use plan and use control, resource conservation, and protection of the ecological environment shall be satisfied, the standards for construction land shall be strictly implemented, priority shall be given to the use of existing construction land, and the use efficiency of construction land shall be improved. To carry out land development and utilization activities, effective measures shall be adopted to prevent and reduce soil pollution, and to ensure that the construction land satisfies the requirements for the quality of soil environment. Article 15 The people's governments at all levels shall, according to the national economic and social development plans and annual plans, territorial spatial plans, national industrial policies, and the actual conditions of urban and rural construction and land use, strengthen the management of land use plans, control the total amount of construction land, promote the development and utilization of the existing urban and rural construction land, guide the re-development of low-efficiency land in cities and towns, implement the construction land standard control system, carry out evaluation of economical and intensive land use, and promote the application of land-saving technologies and land-saving models. Article 16 The competent department of natural resources of the local people's government at or above the county level shall announce the total amount, structure, timing, plot, and use, among others, of construction land annually sup......