The 9 million yuan project was built without approval, and the illegal occupation incident in Jinzhong was investigated

Jinzhong illegal occupation incident

China Newsweek reporter: Zhou Qunfeng

Published in the 2023th issue of China Newsweek magazine on May 5, 1

Recently, the Ministry of Natural Resources concentrated on publicly reporting 2022 major typical problems found in the 67 cultivated land protection inspection, including the problem of encroachment on cultivated land and digging lakes for landscaping, illegal land approval and illegal land acquisition by local party committees and governments, and leading the promotion of illegal land occupation and poor supervision.

The nine major inspection bureaus of the Ministry of Natural Resources conducted interviews with some municipal governments with serious land violations and violations. Among them, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province was interviewed by the Beijing Supervision Bureau, and because the circular used very harsh language about the city, the relevant issues of Jinzhong attracted much attention.

According to the circular, the total amount of cultivated land occupied by non-agricultural construction in Jinzhong City is relatively large, and 2021 major typical problems were found in 2022 and 12, with high incidence and frequent occurrence; The Jinzhong Municipal Urban Administration has continuously illegally occupied cultivated land in Yuci District to dig lakes for landscaping, and similar problems have been corrected and committed in a serious nature, turning a deaf ear to the problems pointed out by the natural resources department of Shanxi Province; In previous years, inspectors were slow to rectify problems.

At the meeting, the principal responsible comrades of the Jinzhong Municipal Government analyzed and reflected on the causes, saying that they would accept all the problems pointed out by the inspectors, and would profoundly learn lessons, conscientiously implement the requirements, and resolutely take effective measures to seriously rectify and reform. The Deputy Secretary-General in charge of the Shanxi Provincial Government spoke on behalf of the provincial government, saying that he would deeply learn lessons, examine his own problems, strengthen provincial-level coordination, consolidate the responsibility for rectification and reform, strengthen work measures, and resolutely and thoroughly rectify and reform.

Recently, China Newsweek learned from Jinzhong that the Beijing Supervision Bureau has handed over relevant clues to the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Jinzhong Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and the Procuratorate have also gone to the Municipal Urban Administration to learn about the situation, and the above 12 major typical problems have now reached the provincial level in Shanxi.

According to data provided by the Jinzhong Municipal Urban Administration, the total investment of the notified project is about 9 million yuan, in addition to the compensation cost of land expropriation reaching 5 million yuan. What happened behind the local illegal occupation of cultivated land, vigorous pushing, and even reform while committing crimes?

9 million yuan project with missing land procedures

The main project involved in Jinzhong is the Longcheng Street Regional Water System Comprehensive Management Project (hereinafter referred to as the Longcheng Water System Project). The above notice mentioned that from May 2019 to October 5, the Jinzhong City Urban Administration of Shanxi Province led the promotion of the Longcheng Water System Project to illegally encroach on 2021.10 mu of cultivated land, excavate river channels and build landscape facilities.

It is understood that the Longcheng water system project is located in the north of Jinzhong and the south of Taiyuan, mainly including three parts: water conservancy, water system and ecological greening, covering a total area of 1524.3 mu. The Jinzhong Urban Administration was responsible for the construction of the project, which began in December 2019 and completed the preliminary inspection in July 12.

A number of interviewees told China Newsweek that the construction of the Longcheng water system project is related to the development needs and flood control needs of Jinzhong. Jinzhong is located in the middle of Shanxi Province, adjacent to Taiyuan to the north, and it is only an 11-minute drive to Jinzhong by high-speed train from Taiyuan South Railway Station. However, although northern Jin is close to Taiyuan, its development lags behind. This area is a combination of urban and rural areas, with a long-term lack of planning and construction, and the basic conditions are extremely poor.

There are 5 seasonal rivers in this area, from west to east, the estuary river, the Quanzi River, the Heihe River, the Jian River and the Bailong River, the slope of the river channel is formed by natural erosion, due to disrepair, many river sections collapsed, and the flood discharge function of the river channel was greatly affected. In addition, the ecological environment is seriously damaged, garbage dumping, black and odorous water bodies, illegal construction problems are prominent, coupled with the inconvenience of transportation here, the public reacts strongly.

In 2016, Shanxi proposed the integrated development of Taiyuan and Jinzhong, and Jinzhong decided to use Longcheng Street in the north of Jinzhong as a specific starting point for integrating into the core area of Taiyuan City, "taking Xiong'an New Area as an example and making the Longcheng Street area a new landmark for urban construction in Taiyuan metropolitan area".

Governance of the five rivers in the region became a top priority. Zhao Jinshu, former second-level researcher of Jinzhong City Administration, participated in the whole process of the Longcheng Water System Project from the start of construction to the preliminary acceptance, and he was also the initial person in charge of the project.

In an interview with China Newsweek, Zhao Jinshu said that the Longcheng water system project is designed according to the 50-year fortification standard, and dredging and widening the river channel is one of the basic projects.

Shi Feng, deputy director of the Jinzhong City Administration, told China Newsweek that the reason why it is called the comprehensive management of the Longcheng water system is to achieve the integrated protection of landscapes, waters, forests, fields, lakes, grass and sand, and at the same time for the development and construction of the entire area, part of the landscape has been designed along the river, including the construction of emergency roads, greening, etc. "If only the river channel is dredged, the surrounding dirty and poor environment has not improved, and the nearby residents have a strong reaction, which will also affect the image of the city."

In the local view, it is these dredging and landscape projects that eventually occupy cultivated land, which has become the problem of Jinzhong's "illegal occupation of cultivated land to dig lakes for landscaping" in the Ministry of Natural Resources. According to China Newsweek, the land approval procedures for these cultivated lands are indeed incomplete.

A local official told China Newsweek that many local governments do projects while making up the procedures, "especially for a large project, if the relevant procedures are completed and then started, several years may pass, and a ruler's term in a position is often only a few years, and the ruler wants to complete the project he pushed himself during his term."

In 2019, knowing that the relevant procedures for the land were incomplete, the Jinzhong municipal government still launched the Longcheng Water System Project. The project is implemented in accordance with the EPC (Engineering General Contracting) model, and the city administration is responsible for ensuring that it is completed within 2 years. The project was also included in the municipal key projects in 2019 and 2020, and in Shanxi Province in 2021.

According to data provided to China Newsweek by the Jinzhong City Administration, the total investment of the project is 94922.37 million yuan, funded by municipal finance. The Yuci District Government is responsible for the land collection of the project, and the cost is not included in the total investment of the project, and the compensation cost is 2 million yuan.

The "confused account" of arable land

According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, the cultivated land area illegally occupied by the Longcheng Water System Project is 897.25 mu. Some local officials gave their own explanations for this data.

The first is the question of whether there are 897.25 mu of arable land in the land area. Shi Feng believes that the above area was indeed cultivated land at the time of the "second survey" (the second national land survey), and the "third adjustment" had begun when the Longcheng water system project was implemented in 2019, but the data had not yet been released. According to the "three adjustments" data, many places are no longer arable land.

However, the Jinzhong Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources did not reply to China Newsweek as to how much of the 897.25 mu of arable land was no longer recognized as cultivated land in the "three adjustments". Peng Fei, a fourth-level researcher at the bureau, stressed to China Newsweek that the change in numbers did not affect the problems pointed out by the Beijing Supervision Bureau, and "rectification should be carried out according to the reported data."

In addition, whether these cultivated lands were historically cultivated land has also been questioned by some officials of the Jinzhong City Administration. An official told China Newsweek that the director of a land institute who had worked at the grassroots level for many years had told him that the area of cultivated land in Yuci District was much smaller during the "second adjustment" than during the "first adjustment." Without consulting the water conservancy department, the local land department added some perennially dry land on both sides of the river in the Longcheng water system as arable land, and these lands are not suitable for growing crops.

"We are responsible for this. But from a practical point of view, these lands are not suitable for farming. The official said.

A written information provided to China Newsweek by the Jinzhong City Administration also wrote, "During the dry season, the riverbed of the downstream river dries up, and the phenomenon of farmers competing with water for land and encroaching on the river channel is serious, and the vast majority of the river channel is encroached upon as cultivated land, resulting in narrow river channels and the loss of tidal flats and wetlands. The current flood control function of the river channel has formed a sharp contradiction with the increasingly high requirements of flood control and security for people's lives and property and social and economic development on both sides of the river. ”

During the visit, the reporter of China Newsweek found that a lot of the land near the river channel was indeed in a state of desertion. Yin Genshou, deputy secretary of the party branch of Nanzhujing Village, Yuci District, which is close to the Hekou River, told China Newsweek that his village's land near the Hekou River has been deserted for many years because there is a lot of sand below and there is little crop harvest.

Zhao Jinshu believes that the "second tone" data should be viewed realistically. As naturally occurring rivers, they should occupy a considerable area, but they are pitifully rare in the "ditonal" data. He believes that in accordance with the requirements of the "Guiding Opinions of the Ministry of Water Resources on Strengthening the Control of Coastal Space in Rivers and Lakes", problems such as "artificial narrowing, encroachment on the spatial resources of rivers and lakes, and competition with water for land in some areas" should be corrected.

However, even if this area is classified as cultivated land when the cultivated land is reduced in the "second adjustment", and the land is later required for local development, and the area is not recognized as cultivated land, it is certain that this area is still cultivated land in the land survey database. As Peng Fei said, as long as it is still cultivated land, it should be managed according to cultivated land. Some cultivated land may not be cultivated temporarily for various reasons, but this cannot be a reason for illegal occupation, "any construction must be based on the premise of reasonable and legal land use." As long as the land is occupied, the relevant land use approval procedures must be completed, and the occupation can only be obtained after approval and consent."

The two departments have their own words

On October 2021, 10, the Beijing Inspectorate pointed out that the Jinzhong City Construction Longcheng Water System Project was suspected of occupying cultivated land and basic farmland for the construction of park green space. Six days later, the Jinzhong municipal government held a special meeting and proposed that "the cultivated land (including basic farmland) located on both sides of the natural river that cannot be used for a long time should be transferred out and rezoned in the basic farmland rectification and rezoning to ensure that the land procedures are legal and compliant."

After efforts, in the second half of 2022, the Jinzhong Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources adjusted basic farmland to general cultivated land. The city administration told China Newsweek that during this process, they actively promoted the approval procedures for land use, but due to various reasons, the processing was slow and it is still in progress.

Shi Feng also told China Newsweek that in 2021, after Jinzhong was notified for the first time, it immediately implemented rectification, but because the land procedures were not perfect, so the rectification was not in place, "In response to the problems mentioned in the circular, the urban management department also accepted all the orders, there was no problem in attitude, and it was also actively following up the rectification in action."

However, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources' report, Jinzhong has since "committed crimes while reforming". China Newsweek learned that this statement refers to the illegal occupation of land when Jinzhong has not yet rectified the problems involved in the Longcheng water system project, and when it participates in the supporting flood handling project of Taiyuan Wusu Airport.

The report also noted that the Jinzhong City Administration ignored the problems pointed out by the natural resources department of Shanxi Province. The Natural Resources Bureau of Yuci District of Jinzhong City issued the Notice of Order to Stop Illegal Acts twice in March and August 2022, and in June 3, the Shanxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources found and pointed out the problem, and the Jinzhong City Administration has not stopped work.

However, the Jinzhong City Administration and the Planning and Natural Resources Bureau have their own opinions on this issue.

The relevant person in charge of the city administration told China Newsweek that the bureau received relevant documents from the Shanxi Provincial Department of Natural Resources, but did not receive the above-mentioned "notice" from the Natural Resources Bureau of Yuci District of Jinzhong City, and that "we have received two fines from the municipal planning and natural resources bureau for illegal land occupation, totaling more than 100 million yuan."

In response to the above statement, the head of the Jinzhong Municipal Bureau of Planning and Natural Resources said that it is not clear why they did not receive the "notice", it may be that they did not sign it after someone saw it, or they did not see it when the relevant personnel handed over the work, "according to the law enforcement procedures, the "Notice of Order to Stop Illegal Acts" is issued first, and then fined."

However, although the two bureaus have different statements, the rectification work is already advancing.

The circular said that the main responsibility of the Jinzhong municipal government for rectification and reform was not in place, and there was no effective rectification of the problems reported by the inspectors in 2022. As of December 2022, of the 12.897 mu of arable land illegally occupied by the project, only 25.182 mu have been rectified by removing planted trees and turf and restoring cultivation conditions.

Peng Fei said that after Jinzhong was notified this time, according to the rectification plan of the urban administration, it is planned to adopt two ways to carry out rectification: one is to use methods such as demolishing buildings (structures) and transplanting trees to level the land and restore the cultivation conditions; the other is to organize files for approval and improve land procedures.

A staff member of the Jinzhong City Administration told China Newsweek that the trees that had been planted had been removed, and the landscape facilities in the river had been removed and leveled, and the conditions for cultivation were now preliminarily ready.

Zhao Liyong, the person in charge of the construction of the Longcheng water system, told China Newsweek that of the five rivers involved in the system, except for the Bailong River, which directly flows into the Jian River near Shentanggou Village, the other rivers are not connected to each other. Due to the perennial drought and lack of rain in the Jinzhong area, in order to replenish water in the dry season and make full use of reclaimed water resources (reclaimed water), the original design was to connect the river in the form of open channels and hidden pipes. After the notification, according to the minutes of the municipal government meeting, the completed nullah was demolished, filled in, and restored to its original appearance, and it was estimated that there were 5.241 mu (including 86.182 mu of cultivated land) in these places. After the restoration of the above-mentioned landforms, the four rivers were connected by laying dark pipes, and the function of the river channel to replenish water using reclaimed water (reclaimed water) was restored.

In addition, the municipal planning and natural resources bureau also told China Newsweek that in order to achieve the balance between the subsidy, Jinzhong purchased about 520 mu of land at a total cost of about 1 million yuan, "We will buy indicators in the city, and we will solve it immediately after the funds are available."

12 cities were intensively interviewed behind the scenes

Jinzhong is just one of the cities interviewed this round.

In October ~ November 2022, the national natural resources supervision agency carried out on-site inspections of cultivated land protection and mineral resources in 10 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, and found a number of violations of laws and regulations.

According to the circular of the Ministry of Natural Resources, some localities still "against the wind" encroachment on cultivated land, digging lakes for landscaping, building green belts and green channels beyond the standard, some city and county governments and their departments illegally approving land, illegally requisitioning land, leading the promotion of illegal land occupation, and some places supplementing cultivated land is untrue, and some even commit fraud.

From April 4 ~ April 12 this year, in six days, 4 cities including Chaoyang in Liaoning, Yantai in Shandong and Ningde in Fujian were interviewed by the national natural resources supervision agency for serious violations of laws and regulations.

Judging from the situation of this briefing and interview, local governments are the leading players in the illegal occupation of cultivated land. The cities interviewed made positive statements. This year is the first year to fully implement the joint responsibility of the party and government for cultivated land protection. After the briefing, Yunnan, Sichuan and other provinces held relevant meetings. At the meeting, Yunnan Province stressed that it is necessary to sign the responsibility letter for cultivated land protection step by step, establish a "military order", and implement the strictest cultivated land protection system. Huang Qiang, governor of Sichuan Province, also said that it is necessary to resolutely put an end to "building before approval" and insist on "mining potential first when using land".

Wu Kening, deputy head of the field technical group of the Third National Soil Census Expert Technical Guidance Group and professor at the College of Land Science and Technology of China University of Geosciences (Beijing), told China Newsweek that at present and for some time to come, the focus of inspections by the national natural resources inspection agency is still cultivated land.

As the Ministry of Natural Resources pointed out in this circular, the protection of cultivated land is the great power of the country, which is related to national food security, the survival of the 14.18 billion people and the sustainable development of the Chinese nation. In the report of the <>th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that it is necessary to consolidate the foundation of food security in an all-round way, firmly adhere to the red line of <>.<> billion mu of arable land, and ensure that the Chinese's rice bowl is firmly in his hands. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly stressed that it is necessary to adopt hard measures of "growing teeth", comprehensively consolidate the responsibility of local party committees and governments at all levels for cultivated land protection, sign a "military order" for cultivated land protection, strictly assess and hold accountable for life, and ensure that <>.<> billion mu of cultivated land is well deserved.

Wu Kening told China Newsweek that interviews have served as a warning when it comes to protecting farmland, but only by seriously holding those responsible accountable can they set an example. In this circular, the natural resources department also clearly pointed out that the national natural resources supervision agency will continue to follow up and urge the rectification of the reported problems, and those who delay rectification or make false rectification and false or fraudulent responses will be transferred in accordance with the requirements of the working mechanism for coordination with discipline inspection and supervision.

However, after the natural resources department investigates and handles relevant cases, it will also encounter difficulties in transferring them to the judicial organs. China Newsweek learned in an interview that due to local protectionism, local public security bureaus and procuratorates did not recognize cases investigated and handled by natural resources departments and returned cases. As a result, the effectiveness of investigating and handling land violation cases has been greatly reduced. It is understood that so far, very few government officials have been criminally punished for land violations.

China Newsweek, Issue 2023, 16

Disclaimer: The publication of China Newsweek manuscripts is authorized in writing