Black Soil Protection Law of the People's Republic of China

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China
(No. 115)
The Black Soil Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, as adopted at the 35th Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on June 24, 2022, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on August 1, 2022.
Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
June 24, 2022
Black Soil Protection Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 35th Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People's Congress on June 24, 2022)

Article 1 This Law is enacted for the purposes of protecting black soil resources, steadily restoring and improving the basic fertility of black soil, promoting sustainable utilization of resources, maintaining ecological balance, and safeguarding national food security.

Article 2 This Law shall apply to activities such as the protection and utilization of black soil and related control and restoration. Where this Law is silent, land administration and other relevant laws shall apply.
For the purpose of this Law, "black soil" means the cultivated land with good characteristics, highly fertile, which contains black or dark black humus topsoil within the relevant areas of Heilongjiang province, Jilin province, Liaoning province and Inner Mongolia autonomous region (hereinafter referred to as the "four black soil regions").

Article 3 The state shall implement a scientific and effective black soil protection policy, guarantee fiscal investments in black soil protection, and comprehensively adopt engineering, agronomic, agricultural machinery, biological, and other measures to protect the excellent fertility of black soil and ensure non-reduction in the volume, non-degradation of the functions, improvement of the quality, and sustainable fertility of black soil.

Article 4 In black soil protection, the principles of overall planning, adapting measures to local conditions, combining use with maintenance, combining short-term goals with long-term goals, highlighting priorities, and comprehensively implementing policies shall be adhered to, and a protection mechanism under the leadership of the government, implemented by agricultural producers and distributors, participated in by society shall be established and improved.
The agriculture and rural affairs authority of the State Council shall, in conjunction with natural resources, water administration, and other relevant authorities, comprehensively take into account the past reclamation and current utilization of black soil, the thickness of black soil layer, soil characteristics, and soil types, among others, on the principles of most facilitating comprehensive protection, comprehensive control, and systematic repair, scientifically and reasonably determine and adjust in due course the scope of black soil protection, and advance black soil protection work in a planned, step-by-step, and classified manner. Former black soil other than the irreparable black soil shall be included in the scope of black soil protection for repair and restoration in principle.

Article 5 Black soil shall be used to produce grains, oil crops, sugar crops, vegetables and other agricultural products.
Black soil with a thick black soil layer and good soil characteristics shall be classified as permanent basic farmland according to the prescribed standards, mainly used for food production, and strictly protected, so as to ensure long-term stability of quantity and quality.

Article 6 The State Council and the people's governments of the four black soil regions shall strengthen the leading, organization, coordination, supervision, and administration of the black soil protection work, and make policies on black soil protection overall. The people's governments of the four black soil regions shall be responsible for the quantity, quality, and ecology and environment of black soil within their respective administrative regions.
Local people's governments at or above the county level shall establish a mechanism for coordination of black soil protection composed of agriculture and rural affairs, natural resources, water administration, development and reform, financial, ecology and environment, and other relevant authorities, strengthen coordination and guidance, specify work responsibilities, and promote the implementation of black soil protection work.
Township people's governments shall assist in the organization and implementation of black soil protection work, spread to agricultural producers and distributors the protection, control, repair and utilization measures suitable for the cultivated land on which they engage in operations, and urge agricultural producers and distributors to perform their obligations to protect black soil.

Article 7 People's governments at all levels shall strengthen publicity and education on black soil protection, and raise the public awareness of black soil protection.
The entities and individuals that have made outstanding contributions to the black soil protection work shall be commended and rewarded in accordance with the relevant provisions issued by the state.

Article 8 The standardization, agriculture and rural affairs, natural resources, water administration and other authorities of the State Council shall, in accordance with the division of duties, formulate and improve black soil quality and other protection standards.

Article 9 The state shall establish and improve a black soil survey and monitoring system.
When conducting land surveys in conjunction with relevant departments, the natural resources authorities of people's governments at or above the county level shall conduct surveys on the types, distribution, quantity, quality, protection and utilization of black soil, and create records of black soil.
The agriculture and rural affairs, water administration, and other authorities of the State Council shall, in conjunction with the people's governments of the four black soil regions, establish and improve a black soil quality monitoring network, strengthen the regular monitoring of the characteristics of black soil, thickness of black soil layer, water erosion, wind erosion, and other conditions, establish a database of dynamic changes in the quality of black soil, and effectively share information.

Article 10 People's governments at or above the county level shall incorporate black soil protection work into their national economic and social development plans.
National land spatial plans shall fully take into account the protection of black soil and its surrounding ecology and environment in reasonably laying out land for various uses, so as to facilitate the prevention and control of water erosion and wind erosion of black soil, among others.
The agriculture and rural affairs authorities of people's governments at or above the county level shall, in conjunction with relevant authorities, based on surveys and monitoring, embodying overall centralized and contiguous control, prepare black soil protection plans, specify the scope of protection, objectives and tasks, technical models and safeguard measures, among others, contain the trend towards degradation of black soil, enhance the quality of black soil, and improve the ecology and environment of black soil. A county-level black soil protection plan shall be linked with the national land spatial plan, be specific to plots of black soil, and be released.

Article 11 The state shall take measures to strengthen the building of the capacity for scientific and technological support for black soil protection, regard supporting scientific and technological innovation for the protection, control, repair and utilization of black soil as a key field, and encourage higher education institutions, scientific research institutions and agricultural technology promulgation institutions to coordinate their scientific and technological research. People's governments at or above the county level shall encourage and support the promulgation and application of water and soil conservation, windbreak and sand stabilization, soil improvement, soil fertility enhancement, ecological ......