(Yicai Global) Nov. 29 -- China is about to finish three policy reform pilot projects on rural land acquisition, making it available for business purposes, and the homestead system and will complete the registration and certification of contracted land soon.

A new round of rural land policy reform will soon be introduced besides the above policies, the state-backed Economic Information Daily reported. It said China will soon introduce policies on extending rural land contracting for another 30 years.

China will further improve the rural collective property rights system, fully verify rural collective assets as well as collective owners' identities, and promote the transition to a shareholding system of collective assets. The country will speed up the issue of beneficiary policies concerning 'three shifts' from resource to assets, from capital to shares, as well as from farmers to shareholders.

The country will spend five years completing the registration and certification of contracted rural land management rights, according to a central government order in 2013. China's 31 provinces, including autonomous regions and municipalities, had started registering contracted land at the end of last year.

"China will clarify the property rights of rural land, better protect the interests of farmers, and promote the rural land market and optimal resource allocation through land rights confirmation." Li Guoxiang, a researcher at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Economic Information Daily. The next priority should be to support the land transfer market, and let rural land confirmation play its role, he added.

Revision of Land Law

The three reform policies on rural land acquisition, making it available for business, and the homestead system will shed some light on the revision of land management law. The special team appointed by the National People's Congress has been doing local research and collecting suggestions for the revision. This round of changes will also involve the three land policy reforms.

Reform of the rural collective property rights system is still the focus in the new round of rural land policy reform. Authorities will comprehensively verify rural collective assets as well as the owners' identities, and introduce shareholding system into collective rural properties, the Economic Information Daily noted.

"Because property rights are not clear, land is not an asset in rural regions, but a liability," an expert told the Economic Information Daily. "We'll revitalize land resources once the ownership is clear, and enable 'three shifts 'from resource to assets, from capital to shares, as well as from farmers to shareholders."

Reform of Cooperatives

The reform of the cooperative system is the key to updating the rural collective property rights system. This year's reform effort is the third wave of trials.

Property rights reform in China centers on three areas: whether to trade land, in what scope, and under what conditions. At the moment, rural land contracting rights can only be transferred within the collective. The reform will not only make management rights tradable, but also change the contracting rights, Dang Guoying, a researcher at the Rural Development Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Economic Information Daily.

"Under certain conditions, rural land contracting rights should be allowed to enter the market freely, which is more in line with market economy demand," he added.

The country will also build a value-added income distribution mechanism for collective building land in the future, according to experts. The country has yet to search for a way to release the 'three shifts' reform dividend, Dang said.

Editor: Bivash