Ministry warns against building on arable land

China's top natural resources authority publicized dozens of cases of encroachment on arable land on Monday to warn companies and individuals against illegal construction. The Ministry of Natural Resources said that from November to April, local governments across the country reported 53 typical cases of structures built on arable land in villages or suburbs, of which 49 had been rectified. "The move aims to firmly uphold the central government's line on arable land by stopping such illegal behaviors," the ministry said.

The country must retain at least 120 million hectares of arable land to guarantee its food safety, according to the government. Among the 53 cases, the illegal uses of the arable land varied. In April last year, an individual surnamed Wang illegally used 400 square meters of farmland in Songbei district, Harbin, Heilongjiang province, to build a warehouse. In December, law enforcement supervised its demolition and the land has since been restored. Other illegal uses included building temporary work sheds, residential houses, a recycling station, a canteen, manufacturing plants and an ancestral hall.

In the rectified cases, the farmland was returned to its normal use after the illegal buildings were torn down. Yun Wenju, an official from the Land Consolidation and Rehabilitation Center with the ministry, told China Economic Times that protection of cultivated land is in urgent need and several factors are affecting it. He said land pollution, occupation and soil degradation have put pressure on arable land protection.

According to the national land survey, China lost 7.5 million hectares of arable land between 2009 and 2019. "Cultivated land relates to food production and livelihoods. No local governments should give up responsibility for the protection of cultivated land," Yun was quoted as saying. Since the second half of last year, the ministry has organized its provincial authorities to conduct random inspections on the handling of farmland occupation cases reported by local governments and found problems that had not been rectified in Yunnan, Guizhou and Shanxi provinces.

"Local governments at all levels should seriously investigate and deal with the illegal occupation of cultivated land in accordance with laws and regulations to prevent the occurrence of new illegal occupation," the ministry said.

Edited by Wang Miao with reference to 

WeChat Public Account of CCPR 

by <https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/2JpSTukIJWAXb2Ps9wZejg>