Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China
Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China
Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China
Order of the President of the People's Republic of China No.27
June 25, 1986
Adopted at the 16th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Sixth National People's Congress on June 25, 1986
Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Ownership of Land and Right to the Use of Land
Chapter III Utilization and Protection of Land
Chapter IV Use of Land for State Construction
Chapter V Use of Land for Township (Town) and Village Construction
Chapter VI Legal Liability
Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is formulated in order to strengthen land administration, maintain the socialist public ownership of land, protect and develop land resources, make proper use of land, effectively protect cultivated land and meet the needs of socialist modernization.
Article 2 The People's Republic of China shall practise socialist public ownership of land, namely ownership by the whole people and collective ownership by the working people.
No unit or individual may seize, buy, sell land or make any other unlawful transfer of land.
The state may, in the public interest, lawfully requisition land owned by collectives.
Article 3 People's governments at all levels must observe and implement the guiding principles of valuing land highly and using land rationally, draw up overall plans, strengthen land administration, protect and develop land resources, and prevent acts of unlawful possession of cultivated land and abuse of land.
Article 4 The people's governments shall reward the units or individuals that gain prominent achievements in protecting and developing land resources, using land rationally and carrying out relevant scientific research.
Article 5 The land administration department under the State Council shall be in charge of the unified administration of the land throughout the country.
The land administration departments of local people's governments at or above the county level shall be in charge of the unified administration of the land in their respective administrative areas. The provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall set up relevant agencies according to actual requirements.
People's governments at the township level shall be in charge of land administration in their respective administrative areas.
Chapter II Ownership of Land and Right to the Use of Land
Article 6 Land in the urban areas of cities shall be owned by the whole people, namely, owned by the state.
Land in rural and suburban areas shall be owned by collectives, except for those portions which belong to the state in accordance with the law; house sites and private plots of cropland and hilly land shall also be owned by collectives.
Article 7 State-owned land may be lawfully determined to be used by units under ownership by the whole people or units under collective ownership. State-owned land and collective-owned land may be lawfully determined to be used by individuals. Units and individuals that use land shall have the obligation to protect and manage the land and make rational use of such land.
Article 8 Collective-owned land shall belong lawfully to peasant collectives of a village and shall be operated and managed by agricultural collective economic organizations such as village agricultural producers' cooperatives or villagers' committees. Ownership of land already belonging to peasant collective economic organizations of a township (town) may be assumed by peasant collectives in the township (town).
If land owned by peasant collectives of a village has been divided and belongs to two or more agricultural collective economic organizations in the village, ownership of such land may be assumed by peasant collectives in the respective agricultural collective economic organizations.
Article 9 Land owned by collectives shall be registered and recorded by people's governments at the county level, which shall, upon verification, issue certificates to affirm the ownership of such land.
State-owned land lawfully used by units under ownership by the whole people or under collective ownership or used by individuals shall be registered and recorded by local people's governments at or above the county level, which shall, upon verification, issue certificates to affirm their right to the use of such land.
Confirmation of the ownership of or the right to the use of forest land or grassland and confirmation of the right to the use of water surface or beaches for aquaculture shall be dealt with in accordance with relevant provisions of the Forestry Law, the Grassland Law and the Fisheries Law respectively.
Article 10 If any change is to be lawfully made in land ownership or in the right to the use of land, the formality of registering such change must be gone through and the certificate changed accordingly.
Article 11 Ownership of land and right to the use of land shall be protected by law. No unit or individual shall in fringe upon such ownership and right.
Article 12 Land owned by collectives and state-owned land used by units under ownership by the whole people or under collective ownership may be operated under a contract by collectives or individuals for agricultural, forestry, livestock and fishery production.
Collectives or individuals that contract to operate land shall have the obligation to protect such land and make rational use of it according to the uses provided for by the contract. The right to operate land under contract shall be protected by law.
Article 13 Disputes concerning ownership of land and the right to the use of land shall be solved through consultation between the parties. If no agreement can be reached through consultation, they shall be decided by the people's government.
Disputes concerning ownership of land and the right to the use of land between units under ownership by the whole people, between units under collective ownership, and between units under ownership by the whole people and units under collective ownership shall be decided by people's governments at or above the county level.
Disputes concerning the right to the use of land between individuals, between individuals and units under owner ship by the whole people, or between individuals and units under collective ownership shall be decided by people's governments at the township or county level.
If a party refuses to accept the decision of the relevant people's government, it may file a lawsuit in a people's court within 30 days from the date of receiving notification of the decision.
Before a dispute concerning ownership of land or the right to the use of land is solved, no party may alter the existing condition of the disputed land or destroy anything attached to it.
Chapter III Utilization and Protection of Land
Article 14 The state shall establish a land survey and statistics system.
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