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Tracing Agricultural Land Transfer in China: Some Legal and Policy Issues

Author

Listed:
  • Chao Zhou

    (College of Humanities and Development Studies, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Yunjuan Liang

    (College of Humanities and Social Development, Northwest A&F University, Xi’an 712100, China)

  • Anthony Fuller

    (School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada)

Abstract
This paper traces the evolution of land tenure changes in contemporary China since 1949. The transfer of land from peasant households to family farms and commercial sized units is on a vast scale and forms one of the greatest land reforms we have ever seen. The agrarian question forms both the policy and academic context in which this legislative account of land transfer is assessed and raises the question of whether land assembly in China resembles previous agricultural transformation policy and processes in industrialized countries or to what extent it has special characteristics of its own. The security of land holding in rural China, established with the household responsibility system, is seen to mature slowly over three to four periods of adjustment, always protecting the rights of peasants while improving conditions for increasing land productivity, resulting in an extension of the two rights of peasant holdings to three rights in the new millennium. The introduction of a third right, a land management right which is transferable from peasants to outsiders, has enabled a huge land assembly movement affecting millions of small holdings. This process of land tenure restructuring raises such questions as the consequences of the capitalization of agriculture, peasant land dispossession, proletarianization, and the prospect of a future land market in rural China, all topics for further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Zhou & Yunjuan Liang & Anthony Fuller, 2021. "Tracing Agricultural Land Transfer in China: Some Legal and Policy Issues," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:1:p:58-:d:478072
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guang Wan & Enjiang Cheng, 2001. "Effects of land fragmentation and returns to scale in the Chinese farming sector," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(2), pages 183-194.
    2. Wenjun Jiao & Anthony M. Fuller & Siyuan Xu & Qingwen Min & Minfang Wu, 2016. "Socio-Ecological Adaptation of Agricultural Heritage Systems in Modern China: Three Cases in Qingtian County, Zhejiang Province," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(12), pages 1-16, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

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    2. Tasso Adam & Loren Brandt & Chaoran Chen & Diego Restuccia & Xiaoyun Wei, 2024. "Land Security and Mobility Frictions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 139(3), pages 1941-1987.
    3. Meng Yang & Ting Sun & Tao Liu, 2023. "The Heterogeneous Effects of Multilevel Centers on Farmland Transfer: Evidence from Tai’an Prefecture, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-19, September.
    4. Yiru Wang & Honggang Lu & Yuge Chen & Peiwen Yang & Xiangbo Cheng & Fangting Xie, 2023. "The Impact of Farmland Management Rights Mortgage Loan on the Agri-Food Industrial Agglomeration: Case of Hubei Province," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-17, July.
    5. Weiguo Fan & Wei Yao & Kehan Chen, 2023. "Integrating Energy Systems Language and Emergy Approach to Simulate and Analyze the Energy Flow Process of Land Transfer," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-24, May.
    6. Gong, Maogang & Li, Hanjin & Elahi, Ehsan, 2022. "Three Rights Separation reform and its impact over farm’s productivity: A case study of China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    7. Yuanfeng Liu & Xinyuan He, 2024. "Unraveling the Institutional Logic in China: an Examination of the Institutional Logic Behind Separation of Ownership, Contract Rights, and Operational Rights," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(3), pages 13509-13531, September.
    8. Lei Yan & Kairong Hong & Hui Li, 2021. "Transfer of Land Use Rights in Rural China and Farmers’ Utility: How to Select an Optimal Payment Mode of Land Increment Income," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-22, April.
    9. Yuanyuan Chen & Mu Li & Zemin Zhang, 2023. "Does the Rural Land Transfer Promote the Non-Grain Production of Cultivated Land in China?," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-16, March.
    10. Lu Cai & Chaoqing Chai & Bangbang Zhang & Feng Yang & Wei Wang & Chengdong Zhang, 2022. "The Theoretical Approach and Practice of Farmland Rights System Reform from Decentralization to Centralization Promoting Agricultural Modernization: Evidence from Yuyang District in Shaanxi, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Gong, Maogang & Elahi, Ehsan, 2022. "A nexus between farmland rights, and access, demand, and amount of agricultural loan under the socialist system of China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    12. Zou, Yucheng & Yan, Lei & Zhang, Yanwei, 2023. "Game analysis of incremental income allocation in the marketization of rural collectively-owned commercial construction land under fairness preference," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 1-14.
    13. Hui Yang & Zeng Huang & Zhuoying Fu & Jiayou Dai & Yan Yang & Wei Wang, 2023. "Does Land Transfer Enhance the Sustainable Livelihood of Rural Households? Evidence from China," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-19, August.
    14. Meseret Abatechanie & Baozhong Cai & Fang Shi & Yuanji Huang, 2022. "The Environmental and Socio-Economic Effect of Farmland Management Right Transfer in China: A Systematic Review," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-21, August.
    15. Jing Xu & Jing Huang & Zhengfeng Zhang & Xiaokun Gu, 2021. "The Impact of Family Capital on Farmers’ Participation in Farmland Transfer: Evidence from Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-20, December.
    16. Xiang Li & Hyukku Lee, 2022. "An Analysis on the Determining Factors of Farmers’ Land-Scale Management: Empirical Analysis Based on the Micro-Perspective of Farmers in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-15, August.
    17. Xusen Zhu & Chaofu Wei & Fengtai Zhang & Junyi Zhang & Yuedong Xiao & Xingyu Yang, 2022. "Influencing Factors of Farmers’ Land Circulation in Mountainous Chongqing in China Based on A Multi-Class Logistic Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(12), pages 1-16, June.
    18. Lei Yan & Xubin Lei & Kairong Hong & Hui Li & Mengyuan Chen, 2022. "Improving Farmer Willingness to Participate in the Transfer of Land Rights in Rural China: A Preference-Based Income Distribution Scheme," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-22, March.

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