Grain price is one of the determinant factors of grain return. Rising grain prices stimulate grain production, but excessively high prices are not beneficial to the low-income urban population or the government policy of stabilizing prices. In China, grain prices are determined by the market. The government procures grain at the minimum procurement price only on occasions of harvest or price drop. It will stop doing so once the market price reaches or exceeds the minimum purchase price. Therefore, grain price changes as market changes in China. Recently, in response to the change of grain supply and demand in the international market, the Chinese Government increased temporarily the procurement amount of rice, wheat and soybean to increase national reserves, and made a timely announcement to raise the minimum procurement price of wheat next year by 0.2 yuan per kg of white wheat and 0.22 yuan per kg of red wheat and colored wheat. It will help improve the grain productivity.

After the Decision is adopted, will farmers be able to decide the transfer of land by themselves? Is the trend of illegally occupying land increasing or decreasing?

A comprehensive understanding of land transfer should be a legal and voluntary transfer with compensation. Under such a system, farmers can freely transfer their land, but they need to register in related government agencies so that the government can better manage the use of land. As long as the land transfer does not violate related laws or regulations, the village committee in principle does not have the right of refusing it. As to land occupation, China is experiencing accelerating industrialization and urbanization. City expansion needs land, so does railway construction. The Ministry of Land and Resources has the final say on the use of land.

Does the land contract and management right certificate provide the expiry date? Can the right be inherited? Is there any change in China's household registration system?

The land contract and management right certificate previously set a 30-year period, but now it states the right will remain unchanged. There is no longer any provision on the expiry date. The certificate cannot be inherited. The certificate confirms the relations between farmers and collectives in a written form, which is beneficial to protecting rights and interests of farmers, encouraging them to increase agricultural input and increase land productivity. The household registration system has changed a lot. In the past, farmers who want to transfer their household registration location must have legal settlement in the cities, but it is very difficult to meet such a requirement in practice. The Decision now clearly requires relaxing control on the household registration system of small and medium-sized cities and allows those farmers who have stable job and settlement in cities to become city residents steadily. Such a move will effectively promote the transfer of farmers from villages to cities.

What influence does land transfer exert on the Chinese economy?

The transfer of land contract and management right is made by farmers with the basic purpose of reasonably using rural land resources. More than 200 million of Chinese farmers have moved from villages to work in cities and hence might no longer be able to cultivate land. Land transfer promotes better use of land resources. By readjusting related policies, the Chinese Government is trying its best to increase the income of farmers, strengthen infrastructure construction in the rural area and improve rural consumption environment so as to further stimulate domestic demand which will boost China's economic growth.

Source: www.fmprc.gov.cn