Land policy a long-term affair

The Decision on Major Issues Concerning Comprehensively Deepening Reforms, adopted by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, says farmers will get more property rights and ways will be explored to increase rural residents' income from property.

The most important property of farmers is land, which consists of agricultural land, non-farm land for housing, and collective construction land that belongs to village committees. To increase farmers' income from property, the authorities have to promote the transfer of rural land and enable farmers to enjoy the benefits of land transfer.

A debate has been raging for years on whether transfer of rural land should be promoted and whether farmers should be given more stable land property rights. Supporters believe that land transfer can increase farmers' income, and enable rural residents who migrate to cities to buy urban assets by selling their assets back home and help them complete the transition from rural to urban residents. But opponents say that an increase in land transfers will quicken the loss of land and homes for farmers, and without any security, more landless farmers will end up as urban poor, leading to social unrest.