Giving farmers the right to handle their land is the key to curbing illegal occupation of farmland, says a commentary in Yanzhao Metropolis Daily. An excerpt follows:

Local governments have often been involved in recent cases in which rural land has been illegally occupied, according to an official from the Ministry of Land and Resources. He also stressed that farmers are frequently hurt in land occupations when they only receive very low amounts of compensation or experience long delays in obtaining payment for their land.

He is telling the truth. When local officials are fervent in promoting urbanization and industrialization, farmers inevitably become the victims of illegal land occupations.

There are two reasons behind such "inevitability": inadequate protection of farmers' land use rights; and the lucrative profits from seizing farmers' land and selling it for development projects. With a lack of sufficient supervision of land transfers and a lack of harsh penalties, farmers in many cases have their land taken away with little compensation.

Under current laws urban land is owned by the State and can be rented or sold on the market, while land in rural areas is collectively owned by farmers and cannot be traded. However, in reality local governments can legally turn farmland into land for other use. In other words, the real owner of rural land does not have the right to rent or sell it. Thus, farmers do not own their land in any real sense.

At the same time, as soon as rural land is taken for development projects, its price skyrockets, which can then be translated into real money, or large figures indicating the achievements of local officials.

Land is the most precious property of farmers, but they do not really own their land. Such a paradox not only nurtures corruption but also leaves farmers vulnerable to infringements of their rights. Giving farmers the right to transfer their land as they wish is an effective way to increase farmers' income, foster the development of rural areas, as well as rein in the manipulation of public power in land deals.

(China Daily April 25, 2006)