The General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council have recently issued the Opinions on Adjusting and Improving the Usage Scope of Revenue from Land Transfer to Give Priority to Supporting Rural Revitalization (the "Opinions").
The Opinions put forward key measures in the following five aspects: 1. increasing the proportion of revenue from land transfer used in agriculture and rural areas; 2. effectively carrying out the connection with the relevant policies; 3. establishing a mechanism for transfer of funds that are mainly retained by cities and counties and appropriately coordinated at the central and provincial levels; 4. strengthening the overall coordination of the revenue from land transfer used in agriculture and rural areas; and 5. intensifying the accounting of revenue from land transfer used in agriculture and rural areas. Among others, the Opinions make it clear that the provision method is determined by province (autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government). Provinces may organize the implementation of one of the following two methods in light of local conditions: first, the provision is made at the proportion of revenue from land transfer used in agriculture and rural areas in the current year that gradually reaches more than 50%, or no less than 8% of revenue from land transfer if the provision amount is less than 8% of the revenue from land transfer; second, the provision is made at the proportion of revenue from land transfer used in agriculture and rural areas in the current year that gradually reaches more than 10%.