Interview: China ramping up efforts to protect arable land and ensure food security: minister

BEIJING, June 25 (Xinhua) -- China has seen steady improvement in arable land protection and ensured food security with cranked-up measures adopted in recent years, Minister of Natural Resources Wang Guanghua told Xinhua during an interview on Sunday on the National Day to protect public land.

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2012, the country has consistently kept its farmland area above the red line of 1.8 billion mu (about 120 million hectares), while the trend of a decline in the total arable land has been "initially curbed," with a net increase of arable land achieved for two consecutive years, according to the official.

For the country to achieve further progress in arable land protection, "the pressure remains high." The natural resources minister explained that the demand for land resources will continue to grow in the future, citing factors such as strong demand for land in China's future industrialization and urbanization process.

"The country will pursue development and simultaneously secure its people's rice bowls," Wang said, vowing to up the ante in the work related to arable land protection and achieve the task of protecting about 1.87 billion mu of arable land and about 1.55 billion mu of permanent basic farmland by 2025.

With the "two lines" -- the red line of land protection and the bottom line of ecological security high on its agenda, the natural resources ministry recently published two circulars on safeguarding resource factors in the process of economic development.

According to the ministry, it will strictly prohibit illegal occupation and unauthorized adjustment of permanent basic farmland as well as drawing pay in advance in the land use in new urban constructions.

When asked about the approach to managing the relationship between farmers and land, the minister underscored the bottom line of ensuring that farmers' interests are never compromised. "We must respect the will of farmers and protect their long-term interests and keep the direction and pace right."

In order to better protect the property rights of farmers and realize the integration of farmers' land rights while activating rural resources, the ministry will improve the registration process of immovable properties in rural areas.

Holding China's rice bowl securely also requires the implementation of a "Greater Food" approach, which entails focusing on the entire natural ecosystem and adopting a comprehensive approach for food production with the utilization of various resources including land and sea, Wang noted.

A modern agricultural production structure and public land development layout that meet market demand and match the carrying capacity of resources and the environment will be formed at a faster pace, the minister said.