Beijing, August 14 (Xinhua) — China will use comprehensive whole-area land consolidation as a platform to promote equal exchange and two-way flow of urban and rural factors. In response to the fragmentation of rural arable land, officials have proposed promoting concentrated, contiguous consolidation of agricultural land.

　　In August, the "Opinions of the Ministry of Natural Resources on Learning from and Applying the 'Ten Million Project' Experience to Deepen the Work of Comprehensive Whole-Area Land Consolidation" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions") was issued. Wang Lei, Director of the Department of Territorial Space Ecological Restoration of the Ministry of Natural Resources, said in Beijing on the 14th that comprehensive whole-area land consolidation is an important part of rural land system reform.

　　Since 2019, China has carried out pilot programs for comprehensive whole-area land consolidation. By the end of 2023, the 1,304 pilot projects nationwide had invested a total of 448.8 billion yuan (RMB), completing comprehensive consolidation covering 3.78 million mu, adding 470,000 mu of arable land, and reducing construction land by 120,000 mu.

　　Li Jianzhong, Deputy Director of the Department of Territorial Space Ecological Restoration of the Ministry of Natural Resources, pointed out that the "Opinions," on the basis of comprehensively summarizing five years of pilot experience, further highlights the role of comprehensive whole-area land consolidation as a policy platform and focuses on strengthening policy supply to promote integrated urban-rural development and assist comprehensive rural revitalization. First, in response to the problem of disordered spatial layout in rural areas, it is required that, on the premise of maintaining the overall stability of the "three zones and three lines" and the spatial layout, local adjustments and overall optimization of land development and utilization methods may be made in conjunction with territorial spatial planning.

　　Second, in response to the problem of arable land fragmentation in rural areas, it is required to coordinate the implementation of concentrated, contiguous consolidation of agricultural land, quality improvement, and ecological transformation, promote layout optimization, and support agricultural modernization.

　　Third, in response to the problem of inefficient use of land resources in rural areas, it is required to coordinate the implementation of construction land consolidation and improve the efficiency of land resource allocation and the level of economical and intensive use. The "Opinions" stipulate that old demolition plots within the consolidation area may be treated as a whole and, in accordance with the relevant provisions on the linkage between urban construction land increase and rural construction land decrease projects, approved as a package and implemented in a coordinated manner; the resulting indicators shall be used in a coordinated manner, and any genuine surplus may be included in the provincial management platform for adjustment within the provincial territory. In addition, where the work of bringing rural collective operating construction land into the market is carried out in accordance with the unified national deployment, scattered and interspersed small plots of existing collective construction land may, in conjunction with the consolidation work, be consolidated and merged into larger parcels; those that fall under operating uses according to territorial spatial planning shall be allowed to enter the market.

　　Fourth, in response to the problem of ecological environment degradation, it is required to coordinate the implementation of integrated protection and restoration of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts in rural areas. For arable land already included within the ecological protection red line and permanent basic farmland that is surrounded by the ecological protection red line, scattered and fragmented, and retained in the form of enclaves, such land may, on the premise of meeting the requirements, be gradually adjusted to outside the ecological protection red line.