Property rights of land should be clarified to protect farmers'
interests, according to an article in Yanzhao Metropolis News. An
excerpt follows:
It is reported that to protect farmers' long-term interests,
South China's Guangdong
Province has decided to push forward a land share-holding
system through clarifying land property right.
This far-reaching measure is an effective way to root out
illegal land requisition and protect farmers' basic rights.
For a long time, the country's farm land resources have been
plagued with the same dilemma as State-owned enterprises (SOEs).
Like the State-owned enterprises, land is owned by the State and
the collective. Without clear property right arrangement, farmers
do not have a clear sense of responsibility for the land, thus
leading to low efficiency in land use.
Worse, due to ambiguous land property right, some rural cadres
set themselves up as owners and managers of the farm land. Taking
little consideration of interests of the country and farmers, some
village cadres decide for the farmers what crops they should plant.
In some cases, some village cadres sell farmland to meet the
demands of real estate developers at the sacrifice of farmers'
interests.
Reform of the State-owned enterprises stresses clarifying
property right, which has helped them achieve greater corporate
efficiency and competitiveness. Policy-makers can learn from the
country's SOE reform to improve the efficiency of land use.
Farmers could become the owners of lands in the land
share-holding arrangement. In the process, farmers should be
prodded into protecting their land and fighting illegal land
requisition.
(China Daily May 28, 2004)