Peking University, Mar 15, 2017: On March 4, Xu Jianguo, associate professor of Peking University National School of Development, was interviewed by People's Daily (Haiwai net) about the separation of land rights and the wealth management of farmers.
Xu Jianguo interviewed by Haiwai net
The Separation of Land Rights Contributes to the Circulation of Rural Lands and the Modernization of Agriculture
Since 1981, China's rural issues have been a major focus of the country's annual No.1 Central Document, which is normally released at the beginning of the year. This year, the spotlight was on the development of properly scaled land management and the seperation of the three land rights.
How can large-scale land management help eradicate rural poverty? Xu explained,“The logic is quite simple: if a person only tills one acre of land, he must be very poor…but if one has 100 acres, or 200 acres of land, he won’t be poor anymore. Therefore, scale management will help reduce poverty…this strategy is the breakthrough point of China’s agriculture.”
Xu pointed out that in order to achieve large-scale land management, it is important to separate the three land rights, which include collective land ownership right, land contract right and management right. Although, according to the constitution, the nature of land ownership cannot be changed, these three rights can be distributed to different groups.
“One practical method to divide land rights is through shareholding reforms.” Xu added, “(Land-owners) become share-holders and receive dividends.” He also noted that when land management right is circulating on the market, one can buy more to congregate pieces of land and carry out systematic agricultural plan. The buyer earns more through large-scale management while the holder of the ownership right shares the profit and has more spare time to participate in other work.
Financial Services Need to Weigh Costs and Benefits and Avoid Blind Expansion
In terms of the development of financial services in rural areas, Xu commented that in cities, the prospect is bright for financial services because their targets are mainly big enterprises; in rural areas, however, this task is more difficult for the targets are small businesses and farmers.
Xu then said that because of this limited market, financial services might not boom so much there as they do in cities. On one hand, financial services are supposed to shoulder the responsibilities of public welfare, aiding rural areas in infrastructure constructions and offering convenience to local residents. On the other hand, they have to follow the economic laws.
Xu observed that urbanization instead of developing financial services is the fundamental way to resolve the issues concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers. He also emphasized that the prosperity of commercial business relies on long-term, stable benefits, which rural areas can hardly provide. Therefore, rural financial development should always be on the alert for blind expansion.
Written by: Wang Xi
Edited by: Xu Penghang
Source: http://finance.haiwainet.cn/special/xujianguo2017/
