The General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources ("MNR") has recently issued the Guidelines for Criteria of Disclosure of Grassroots Government Affairs Concerning Expropriation of Rural Collective Land (the "Guidelines"), with effect from August 1, 2019.
The Guidelines apply to work on disclosure of government affairs in relation to expropriation of rural collective land, conducted by competent authorities of natural resources at the county (prefecture or district) level in charge of expropriation of rural collective land and by other departments taking over the responsibility for expropriation of rural collective land. Under the Guidelines, affairs to be made public are classified by land expropriation administration and approval procedures, into four major categories, including policies on land expropriation administration, preliminary preparations for land expropriation, examination and approval for intended land expropriation, and implementation of land expropriation. And these four major categories are further divided into ten sub-items which include notification of intended land expropriation, survey of current conditions of land to be expropriated, hearings for intended land expropriation, documents necessary for approval of land expropriation, approval documents for land expropriation, announcements of land expropriation, registration for compensation for the expropriated land, announcements of plans for compensation and placement for land expropriation, hearings of plans for compensation and placement for land expropriation, and allocation of compensatory payments for land expropriation. For each sub-item, what information will be disclosed, who will be responsible for disclosure, and where and how to disclose the relevant information are all made clear.