Land approval "decentralization" does not "relax"

——Experts interpreted the "Decision on the Authorized and Entrusted Land Examination Right"

Recently, the State Council printed and issued the "Decision on the Authorized and Entrusted Land Examination and Approval Rights (Guo Fa [2020] No. 4)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Decision"). After the "Decision" was issued, it aroused strong public concern. Some media believe that the "Decision" "increased the scale of construction land in provinces and municipalities directly under the Central Government and provincial capital cities", indicating that "the number of construction land indicators for the three core urban agglomerations and the Chengdu-Chongqing metropolitan area has increased." "There are even comments that" this is the loosening of land for real estate ".

In this regard, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Natural Resources stated that the above views are misinterpretations of this policy. In fact, the promulgation of the policy is a measure that echoes the newly revised "Land Management Law", further deepens the "decentralization of service" reform, and gives the provincial people's government greater autonomy in land use. To this end, Yan Jinming, Executive Dean of the National Institute of Development and Strategy, Renmin University of China, and a distinguished professor at the Changjiang Scholars gave an authoritative interpretation of the Decision.

Decentralization of related approval powers aims to "increase efficiency"

The "Decision" recently released mainly involves the decentralization of the approval authority in two aspects: one is the approval of the conversion of agricultural land other than permanent basic farmland that can be authorized by the State Council into construction land, and authorizing the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities for approval; The transfer of permanent basic farmland to construction land and the approval of land acquisition approval by the State Council shall be entrusted to the people's governments of some provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities for approval.

Yan Jinming pointed out that the decentralization of the relevant approval authority of the "Decision" aims at "increasing efficiency". By decentralizing the approval authority for related construction land, it will give provincial local governments more autonomy, so that they can adapt to local conditions and solve the problem of "difficult to land" and "slow land" of project land, thereby improving the efficiency of approval, project landing and land use. In order to meet the demand for land for improving the business environment, service industry development, and infrastructure protection, it is also conducive to solving the problems of rural construction projects landing and the inefficient waste of rural land use through "increase and decrease links", which promotes Further realization of rural revitalization.

However, the "Decision" did not "unbundle" the scale of construction land, the purpose is to improve "efficiency", not "increase" in the scale of construction land. "In fact, in the future, under the constraints of land and space planning, land supply planning and space use control at all levels, the focus of construction land supply will still be on excavating stocks and controlling incremental growth." Yan Jinming said.

Still strictly control the total amount of construction land

Yan Jinming commented that objectively speaking, the degree of decentralization was indeed relatively large, but the basic state policy of cherishing and rationally using land and effectively protecting cultivated land has not changed, and the requirements for land management have not been relaxed.

He analyzed that giving the provincial people's government greater autonomy in land use, in fact compacting the provincial government's responsibilities, essentially letting the land make the best use of the land, making the best use of the land, promoting the most scientific and reasonable land use, and serving the most urgent, The most demanded and effective land use demands, such as the guarantee of major infrastructure land, the demand for new industry and new business land, the demand for major engineering land such as poverty alleviation and relocation, and the demand for public utilities such as public health emergency, instead of "Media for real estate" Ground loose. "

The "Decision" requires that the competent natural resource authorities in the pilot provinces must follow the principles of strict protection of cultivated land and conservation of intensive land use, and conduct land use review in accordance with laws and regulations and review standards. At the same time, the three control red lines of ecological protection red line, permanent basic farmland and town development boundary have not been relaxed. In addition, the total amount of land for planning and construction has not been relaxed.

Yan Jinming emphasized that at present, the total amount of construction land is still strictly controlled. For example, Beijing implements reduction development and strictly adheres to the bottom line of the scale of construction land. By 2035, the scale of urban and rural construction land will be reduced. Shanghai still practises the "five-quantity" control thinking of "total locking, incremental decrease, inventory optimization, flow efficiency, and quality improvement", and explores for cities to promote urban development and transformation by changing land use methods.

The "pilot" can also be managed well

The first batch of pilot provinces and cities identified in this land use approval reform are Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, Guangdong, and Chongqing. Why did you choose the above 8 regions as pilot provinces? Yan Jinming analyzed. First of all, there is an urgent need for reform in the pilot areas, and the project landing speed matches the economic development speed. Most of the eight provinces and cities are provinces and cities with rapid economic and social development, with prominent human-land contradictions, rapid changes in demand, and heavy pressure on resources and the environment. The speed of landing of some projects is difficult to meet the actual requirements.

Second, the basic conditions in the pilot areas are more prominent. Most of the pilot areas have a good economic foundation and a relatively complete industrial structure, which can effectively guarantee the smooth implementation of reforms, subsequent evaluation of services, and multidimensional implementation of supervision. At the same time, the different stages of economic and social development in the pilot areas are also easy to observe. The impact of reform on land use, industrial development, and economic and social changes.

In addition, this pilot is also a big test of the governance capacity of the pilot area. The deep-seated contradictions, problems and risks in the reform process may be revealed in various regions. How to implement the provincial government's responsibility, adjust the approval rhythm, grasp the approval requirements, dynamically coordinate the land use layout, coordinate urban and rural construction land, and ensure the balance of cultivated land occupation and replenishment Realizing the requirements of self-examination and supervision, and fulfilling the requirements of “reliable and well-managed” reforms are also a huge test for the local government. These must also be based on strict guidance and supervision.

(Beijing, March 15th, by reporter Yang Shu)