The General Office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development ("MOHURD") has recently released the Standards GB50137 for the Classification of Urban and Rural Land and the Planning of Development Land (Revised) (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public consultation by June 28, 2018.
Major technical contents in the Draft for Comment are as follows. The first is making improvements to the classification system for urban and rural land; the second is enriching the classification of land used for town development and the classification of land used for village development; the third is improving the system of standards for the planning of development land from the perspective of holistic management and control of urban and rural areas, cities, towns and villages; and the fourth is making supplements and revisions to relevant articles. The Draft for Comment clearly specifies that, this classification may be adopted in full or in part, depending on different requirements on the nature, content and profundity of work. Meanwhile, cities and towns are encouraged to allow the land use compatibility and mixed land use to a reasonable extent, but have to conform to the principles of guaranteeing public services, creating the livable environment and avoiding conflict of functions and follow applicable technical conditions and policies.