BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- Compensation for farmers whose land is expropriated has increased by more than 30 percent since 2008 as a result of land acquisition reforms, a top official said Tuesday.
Xu Shaoshi, minister of Land and Resources, said farmers' compensation and subsidies resulting from land expropriation and demolitions hit 3.5 trillion yuan (about 561 billion U.S. dollars) between 2008 and 2011.
More than 25 million farmers were covered by the social security network during the same period after their land was expropriated, said Xu, citing a State Council report on land administration that was submitted to the ongoing session of the top legislature for deliberation.
Xu said the reforms have adhered to the principles of "narrowing the scope of land expropriation, standardizing expropriation procedures, raising compensation standards and ensuring the farmers' relocation."
"Pressure stemming from the illegal occupation of arable land remains high in China," Xu said.
"There is a sharp contradiction between the supply and demand of land for construction, with both urban and rural construction occupying farmland," he said.
Land supplies for real estate construction has remained high in recent years, according to the report.
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