Notice of the Ministry of Natural Resources on strictly adhering to the bottom line in the guarantee of land elements for economic development

Notice of the Ministry of Natural Resources on strictly adhering to the bottom line in the guarantee of land elements for economic development

Natural Resources Development [2023] No. 90

The competent departments of natural resources of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, and municipalities separately listed in the plan, and the Natural Resources Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:

In order to implement the decision-making and deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council on implementing the new development concept, promoting high-quality development, better coordinating development and security, implementing the strictest cultivated land protection system, ecological environmental protection system and land conservation and intensive land use system, and resolutely preventing the occurrence of problems such as illegal occupation of cultivated land, extensive waste of land, destruction of ecology and living environment, and infringement of the legitimate rights and interests of the masses in the work of guaranteeing resource elements, the following notice is hereby issued on relevant matters.

1. Persist in using territorial spatial planning as the basis for land use. Land and spatial planning is the basic basis for all kinds of development, protection and construction activities. The competent departments for natural resources at all levels shall accelerate the preparation and approval of territorial spatial plans, and in accordance with spatial control requirements such as territorial spatial planning and "three districts and three lines", intervene in advance, actively cooperate with, and participate in the site selection and line selection of construction projects, and coordinate the spatial layout of construction projects on the "one map" of territorial spatial planning. Land use shall not be approved in violation of territorial spatial planning and the "three districts and three lines" control rules.

2. Strengthen the control and constraints of land use plans. Where a construction project requires the use of land, it must comply with the regulations on the management of the annual land use plan, and it is strictly forbidden to approve the use of land without a plan or beyond the plan. All localities should combine the needs of project construction, make overall plans and arrangements for annual land use, strictly implement the mechanism of linking the allocation of plan indicators with the disposal of stock land, and calculate the local plan control quota based on the scale of disposal of stock land in the current year.

3. Implement special protection requirements for permanent basic farmland. Once permanent basic farmland has been demarcated, no organization or individual may occupy or change its use without authorization. Where it is truly necessary to occupy, it shall comply with the provisions of the Land Administration Law on the scope of major construction projects, and the examination and demonstration of the supplementary occupation shall be done as required, and the permanent basic farmland designated for the supplementary zoning must be cultivated land that can be used stably for a long time. It is strictly forbidden to occupy permanent basic farmland beyond the approval of the law; It is strictly forbidden to circumvent the transfer of permanent basic farmland agricultural land or land expropriation approval by means such as unauthorized adjustment of land and spatial planning.

4. Standardize the balance between cultivated land and subsidies. In carrying out projects to supplement cultivated land, cultivated land reclamation within the scope of ecological protection redlines, forest land management, wetlands, river and lake areas shall be prohibited in accordance with the requirements of land spatial planning and ecological environmental protection; It is forbidden to reclaim cultivated land in areas with severe desertification, serious soil erosion, fragile ecology, and serious pollution that is difficult to restore; It is forbidden to cultivate cultivated land on steep slopes above 25 degrees and slopes above 15 degrees in important water source areas. For areas with a slope greater than 15 degrees, in principle, no new projects shall be established to implement supplementary cultivated land, and if it is really necessary to reclaim according to the needs of agricultural production and the wishes of the peasant masses, it shall be carried out only after the county-level demonstration and assessment and the provincial review confirm that the conditions for stable cultivation are met. For areas irrigated mainly by pumping groundwater, no paddy reclamation projects shall be carried out. The reclamation of unused land shall be limited to the scope of suitable arable reserve resources determined by the new round of national arable land reserve resources survey and evaluation based on the results of the third national land survey; If the scope of reserve resources suitable for cultivation is expanded after the implementation of large-scale water conservancy projects, it may be discussed on a case-by-case basis and adjusted by the provincial-level reporting ministry. If the actual slope of the project plot is inconsistent with the results of the slope map due to technical reasons such as insufficient digital elevation model (DEM) or due to the implementation of land consolidation and ecological restoration, it shall be handled in accordance with the relevant requirements of the Third National Land Survey Technical Q&A (Third Batch) (Land Survey Office Fa [2020] No. 9).

All localities should persist in using supplementary occupation and make overall arrangements for the construction sequence of cultivated land projects according to the ability to supplement cultivated land. To implement the task of replenishing cultivated land, it is necessary to adhere to the principle of "focusing on the balance of the county itself, supplemented by adjustment within the province, and supplemented by appropriate overall planning by the state", based on the county to tap potential and replenish by itself, and resolutely correct the behavior of occupying plains and replenishing mountainous areas; Where it is truly necessary to transfer and supplement within the province due to lack of reserve resources, in principle, it should be a major construction project at or above the provincial level. Provincial-level departments in charge of natural resources should strengthen the centralized development of supplementary cultivated land resources and the overall use of indicators, and resolutely correct and prevent the behavior of local and social capital that simply pursues supplementary cultivated land targets driven by interests and forcibly exploits regardless of the conditions of the site; It is necessary to strictly standardize the management of the adjustment of supplementary cultivated land indicators within the province, implement open, transparent and standardized adjustments, uniformly incorporate supplementary cultivated land indicators into the provincial management platform, further standardize the adjustment procedures, reasonably determine the level of economic compensation for transfers, and strictly control the scale of adjustments.

5. Implement the balance of cultivated land entry and exit in a sound and orderly manner. Strictly control the conversion of cultivated land into forest land, garden land, grassland and other agricultural land, and strictly implement the annual balance of cultivated land entry and exit where it is truly necessary to change the use of cultivated land for agricultural restructuring. Where cultivated land is occupied in a flooded area of a reservoir, the balance between cultivated land entry and exit shall be implemented before the land is submitted for approval. All localities should comprehensively consider factors such as slope, light and hot water soil conditions, agricultural production supporting facilities, the current growth cycle of planted crops and market economic conditions, farmers' will, economic costs, and other factors, systematically plan the spatial layout and timing arrangement of agricultural structural adjustment and balanced entry and exit, and gradually promote the transfer of cultivated land in a planned, rhythmic, categorical and sub-regional manner. After cultivated land is transferred, the ability of cultivated land to be used stably for a long time should be improved through methods such as farming, individual or collective economic organization cultivation, and large-scale operation in accordance with laws and regulations. It is necessary to consolidate the results of returning farmland to forest, and it is strictly forbidden to forcibly transfer cultivated land with steep slopes out of touch with reality and disregard agricultural production conditions and ecological environment; It is strictly forbidden to forcibly pull out seedlings and cut down trees and fill pits and flat ponds regardless of the objective reality that fruit trees are in the peak fruit period, forest trees are in the growing period, and fish ponds are in the harvest season; It is strictly forbidden to only emphasize the balance of cultivated land access on the books, regardless of the later cultivation and utilization situation, resulting in the re-loss of cultivated land.

6. Strictly abide by the red line of ecological protection. All localities should strengthen their awareness of ecological protection, take ecological protection redlines as rigid constraints on project site selection, and reasonably avoid ecological protection redlines. Resolutely put an end to all kinds of illegal construction behaviors that damage the ecological environment and violate the requirements of ecological protection redline control. Illegal land use such as unapproved construction within the ecological protection red line shall be severely punished in accordance with laws and regulations such as the Land Management Law and the Regulations for the Implementation of the Land Administration Law.

7. Strictly control the addition of new urban construction land. All localities should give full play to the spatial guidance, overall regulation and control role of urban development boundaries in the centralized construction activities of all types of cities and towns. In the implementation of land and spatial planning at all levels at the provincial, municipal and county levels, it is necessary to avoid "eating too much grain", and leave at least 35% and 25% of the incremental space for the "15th Five-Year Plan" and "16th Five-Year Plan" periods in the use of incremental space within the urban development boundary. In terms of the scale of annual incremental space use, at least 80% of the average scale of five years shall be reserved each year, and the rest can be used for inter-annual adjustments, but shall not exceed the total amount of phased control in order to reserve reasonable space for future development. Resolutely put an end to all kinds of construction behaviors such as breaking through the annual plan targets without authorization and destroying natural and historical cultural heritage resources.

8. Strictly implement land use standards. All kinds of construction projects should strictly implement land use standards, and project land that exceeds the standard and does not have standards should be evaluated in accordance with regulations, and land that does not meet the standards should be resolutely reduced in the pre-examination process. Promote the conservation and intensive use of land for new projects to reach the advanced level of the same industry in China.

9. Increase the intensity of revitalization and disposal of existing land. Persist in exchanging "stock" for "increment", take multiple measures to digest approved land without providing it, revitalize idle land and low-efficiency land, and fully tap the potential of existing land. Where the new increase of idle land in the previous year exceeds the amount of disposal, as well as the task of disposing of the approved land that has not been provided or used or vacated, corresponding normative and restrictive measures shall be taken. All localities should intensify the investigation and disposal of land approved but not provided for and idle land in parks, accelerate the redevelopment of low-efficiency land such as supply but not use, and use but not exhausted, revitalize and utilize through rational conversion of use, replacement and resettlement of land, reclamation of those that have been occupied for a long time but not used, and improve the level of economical and intensive utilization of land in the park. For parks with significantly low completion rates, strictly control the scale of new industrial land expropriation and development, and give priority to the use of their own stock land.

10. Earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the masses. To carry out land expropriation, prior land use, urban and rural construction land increase and decrease linkage, recovery of state-owned agricultural land and other land use behaviors directly related to the interests of the masses, it is necessary to strictly implement the relevant provisions of laws and regulations, ensure that procedures are standardized and compensation is in place. Resolutely put an end to illegal acts that infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of the masses, such as illegal forced demolitions, destroying wheat and cutting greens, and forcing peasants to go upstairs. In carrying out reclamation and recultivation, it is necessary to comply with laws and regulations and be reasonable, fully respect the wishes of peasants, give appropriate economic compensation according to actual conditions, and allow a certain transition period to give farmers and operators reasonable preparation time. It is strictly forbidden to forcibly reclaim farmland without agreement with farmers or operators against the wishes of farmers; It is strictly forbidden to forcibly reclaim and restore farming in a unified manner by means of mandatory apportionment of tasks and time limits; It is strictly forbidden to reclaim and cultivate all kinds of reclamation and recultivation that infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of the masses, such as simple and rude, and not paying attention to methods, and resolutely prevent "simplification" and "one-size-fits-all".

Department of Natural Resources

June 13, 2023