Land reform with collective ownership shelved faces challenges

"if we continue to shelve the reform of collective ownership and only focus on the 'separation of rights', it will be difficult to solve the institutional dilemma faced by China's rural development." Liu Shouying, deputy director of the Rural Department of the Development Research Center of the State Council, put forward the above argument at a recent forum held by China Agricultural University.

Liu Shouying said that the "separation of the three rights" reform is essentially a continuation of the rural land system reform strategy of the past 30 years. As ownership is locked, all we can do is to explore the realization form of collective ownership of land. Therefore, the basic clue of rural land system reform is to make a fuss on the separation of ownership and use right.

"the strategy of shelving ownership prevents the land reform from being aborted by the road dispute, so it is of great significance." However, Liu Shouying said that the practice of continuing to follow the reform logic of the separation of the two rights to the separation of the three rights and shelving the issue of collective ownership faces difficulties in the operation of the law and the system.

Among them, there are the following problems in the arrangement of the current legal system: first, after collective ownership becomes member ownership, collective members are affected by changes in legal population and membership changes, resulting in changes in collective land and income distribution requirements. The second is the contract-issuing relationship between collectively owned land and contracted land. The "contracting party" often infringes upon farmers' land contract rights, affecting the land property rights (property rights) granted to farmers by the property Law.

Third, the collective organization, as the land contractor, accepts the entrustment of the collective members' land contracting and income distribution and disposal, resulting in the principal-agent problem; fourth, although the land transfer right is derived from the contracted management right, however, there is no clear legal expression about the relationship between the rights and responsibilities of the land subcontractor (the original contractor) and the receiving subject (the management subject). The legal relationship and right stipulation between collective ownership, contracted management right and circulation management right are incomplete.

At the practical level, Liu Shouying said that the reform logic of "separation of two rights" has left many thorny problems that have not been solved:

First of all, the "collective" is often restless. The original intention of the reform is to consolidate the right to use the land and let the property rights play a role, so that farmers can feel at ease in farming, and the law still gives them the name of collective ownership, but it is proved afterwards that "collectives" still appear from time to time. Because collective ownership still exists as a first-level subject.

Second, the things that grow up attached to the "collective" are inexplicable and unclear. At present, the places with strong strength of the "collective" mainly rely on starting first, and the collective strongmen turn agricultural land into construction land in the name of the village. What grows in the collective is inseparable from two institutional genes: one is relying on the collective land, and the other is relying on the collective membership rights. The output on the "collective" land often has unclear property rights, which attracts all parties to "mix". The more developed areas are, the more troublesome they are, and there are many problems in rural governance.

Third, the concept of membership rights has been strengthened. The result of the reform is a system of member ownership. Central policy had hoped to sever this bond, but the problem now is that membership has been internalized. In the concept of farmers, collective ownership means that everyone has a share. There is a conflict between "everyone's share" and the policies of "increasing the number of people without increasing land, reducing the number of people without reducing land" and "staying the same for a long time" and so on.

The fourth problem is the integrated protection of "contract right and management right", but both feel that there is no protection. The Land contract Law and the property Law protect farmers' right to contracted management of land. When the contractor is in unity with the operator, there is no problem with the "contractual management right" as a kind of right protection. At the beginning of the reform, farmers were basically self-employed farmers. However, with the non-agricultural transformation of population and labor force, the contractor may not be the operator. The right of contract is separated from the right of management, so either the right of contract is infringed or the right of management is not protected.

With regard to the above problems, Liu Shouying's suggestion is that the right system of collective ownership, use right and transfer right of rural land must be reconstructed through the deepening reform of collective ownership. to provide farmers with a complete, clear ownership and stable expected land system structure. The following points need to be practiced:

First, deepen the reform of collective ownership. Further clarify the principal-agent relationship between collective members and collective economic organizations. On the basis of collective ownership of membership rights, the identity qualification of membership rights should be solidified. Implement the "long-term unchanged" and change the time-limited contract system into an indefinite land system.

Second, strengthen the real right attribute of land contract right. While reforming the collective ownership, the current contracting relationship between collective ownership and the right of contracted management should be changed. All members of the collective use their own land. After long-term implementation, the land will be the property of the solidified members. Improve the empowerment of the right to the use of land, make it include the right of use, the right of income, the right of transfer, the right of mortgage and the right of inheritance.

Third, make clear the connotation and protection of the right of circulation and management. The circulation management right is the right derived from the land use right. The original land user and the transfer operator sign a contractual relationship, stipulating the time limit, rights and responsibilities, protecting the land rent income and land quality of the original land users; protect the investment safety and income rights of the transfer operators, and clarify the land rights of the transfer operators during the lease period.