By Ye Xingqing, Research Team on “the Institutional Framework and Policy System of the Integrated Development in Rural and Urban Areas”, Research Department of Rural Economy, DRC

Research Report, Special Issue, No.19, 2019 (Total 1647) 2019-3-8

Abstract: On the basis of upholding the rural collective land ownership and the principles to protect the fundamental rights and interests of the farmers, the key to improving the efficiency of the distribution of land and other rural resources and fostering the integration of rural and urban areas lies in the restructuring of rural collective property rights ownership, breaking down the exclusiveness of rural community, increasing its access to other rural areas, and eradicating the institutional obstacles which block the flow of rural resources such as land to other collective members beyond the local areas. From the theoretical perspective, there are absolutely opposite opinions about whether an open-oriented rural collective property right structure should be promoted and allow the shift of more powers and functions to the units and farmers that belong to other collective economic organizations. To resolve the cognitive dispute and push ahead with the relevant reform arrangements stipulated by the Third Plenary Session of the Eighteenth CPC Central Committee, work needs to be done to give definite answers to the following questions. One, is it necessary to keep the structure of collective property ownership exclusive under collective ownership mechanism? Two, does village self-governance under township administration inevitably require the collective economic organizations play the supporting role in underpinning the development of village communities? Three, is it definite that in the urbanization drive the population solely flow from rural areas to urban areas in a one-way manner?

Key words: collective property ownership, collective property rights, rural governance