Agriculture Law of the People's Republic of China-Expired

Agriculture Law of the People's Republic of China

Order of the President [1993] No.6

Adopted at the Second Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on July 2, 1993, promulgated by Order No.6 of the President of the People's Republic of China on July 2, 1993, and effective as of July 2, 1993

Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II System of Agricultural Production and Operation
Chapter III Agricultural Production
Chapter IV Circulation of Agricultural Products
Chapter V Input to Agriculture
Chapter VI Agricultural Science and Technology, and Agricultural Education
Chapter VII Agricultural Resources and Agricultural Environmental Protection
Chapter VIII Legal Liability
Chapter IX Supplementary Provisions

Chapter I General Provisions

Article 1 This Law is formulated with a view to ensuring the fundamental position of agriculture in the national economy, developing the socialist market economy in rural areas, safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of agricultural production and operation organizations and agricultural labourers, and promoting the continuous, steady and coordinated growth of agriculture.

Article 2 The State adheres to the guiding principle of taking agriculture as the foundation in developing the national economy.
The State shall adopt measures to ensure the steady development of agriculture.
The main object in developing agriculture is to actively develop the socialist market economy in rural areas, further emancipate and develop the rural productive forces, develop and utilize the rural labour force, land and various resources, increase effective supplies of agricultural products, and satisfy the demands of the people's life and the development of social economy; and on the basis of the development of production, to increase the income of agricultural labourers, raise their living standards, build a new countryside of common prosperity and civilization and gradually realize agricultural modernization.
"Agriculture" as mentioned in this Law means crop-plantation, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery.
"Agricultural production and operation organizations" mentioned in this Law mean agricultural economic collectives, State-owned agricultural enterprises or other agricultural enterprises.

Article 3 Land in rural and suburban areas is owned by collectives except for those portions belonging to the State, that is, to the whole people, as stipulated by relevant laws. Forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed lands, beaches, waters and other natural resources are owned by the State, with the exception of the forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed lands and beaches that are owned by collectives in accordance with the law.

Article 4 The right to the use of State-owned lands or collective-owned lands may be transferred according to law. No organization or individual may appropriate, buy, sell or otherwise engage in the transfer of land by unlawful means.
People's governments at various levels must value and make a rational use of land, and earnestly protect cultivated land. Acts of unlawful appropriation of cultivated land or misuse of land shall be prohibited.

Article 5 In rural areas, socialist economy under public ownership shall be taken as the main sector, and meanwhile diversified economic sectors shall be developed jointly so as to prosper rural economy.

Article 6 The State shall stabilize the rural responsibility systems, the main form of which is the household output-related system of contracted responsibility, perfect the two-level operation system of the household contract responsibility system supplemented by unified management, develop socialized service systems, expand actual strength of collective economy, and lead peasants to the road of common prosperity.

Article 7 The State shall vitalize agriculture by relying on the progress of science and technology and on the development of education.

Article 8 The State shall develop water conservancy undertakings and industries of means of agricultural production so as to ensure the material supplies for the steady growth of agricultural production.

Article 9 The State shall award the units or individuals that have made remarkable achievements in the development of agriculture.

Article 10 People's governments at various levels must attach great importance to the agricultural work, assume the responsibility of organizing in a unified way all the relevant departments and the whole society to support agriculture, and well perform all the work related to the development of agriculture and serving the development of agriculture.
The departments in charge of agriculture under the State Council shall, in accordance with their respective functions and duties, be responsible for the nation-wide agricultural work. Other relevant departments under the State Council shall, within the scope of their respective functions and duties, be responsible for the relevant nation-wide work in the service of agricultural production and operation.
The departments in charge of agriculture under local people's governments at or above the county level shall, in accordance with their respective functions and duties, be responsible for the relevant agricultural work in their administrative areas. Other relevant departments under local people's governments at or above the county level shall, within the scope of their respective functions and duties, be responsible for the relevant work in the service of agricultural production and operation.

Chapter II System of Agricultural Production and Operation

Article 11 Collective-owned land shall be owned collectively by the peasants of the village according to law, and shall be operated and managed by agricultural economic collectives of the village or by the villagers committee. Land that has already been under the ownership of peasant economic collectives of a township (or town) may be owned collectively by the peasants of the township (or town).
If land collectively owned by the peasants of a village has been respectively under the ownership of two or more agricultural economic collectives in the village, such land may be collectively owned by the peasants of the respective agricultural economic collectives.

Article 12 Lands, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed lands, beaches and water surfaces owned by collectives or the State and exploited by agricultural economic collectives, may be contracted to individuals or collectives for agricultural production. State-owned or collective-owned waste hills or unreclaimed lands suitable for afforestation may be contracted to individuals or collectives for afforestation.
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