China shakes up rules on land seizures

By Geoff Dyer in Beijing

Published: January 29 2010 12:18 | Last updated: January 29 2010 15:58

China on Friday unveiled a shake-up of the way that land is seized for redevelopment after a public outcry over violence used by some developers and a rare public campaign by leading academics.

The State Council, China’s cabinet, published the proposed regulations, which should increase compensation for relocation, make it easier for residents of houses marked for redevelopment to take legal action and limit conflicts during demolitions.

Land seizures have been central to the rapid modernisation of hundreds of Chinese cities over the past decade, which in turn has been one of the main drivers of economic growth. However, they have also been the source of often violent conflicts, especially in the past year when huge volumes of stimulus funds have gone into building projects.

Under the proposed guidelines, residents would receive market value if their property were redeveloped. Relocation teams would be barred from cutting off water and power to residents who were resisting eviction. The rules also say houses cannot be demolished if residents have a pending lawsuit challenging an eviction.

Analysts welcomed the regulations but said rigorous implementation would be crucial.

A Chinese academic who specialises in land issues but asked not to be named said: “The new rules say that violence cannot be used to force people to relocate but it is already against the law to use violence and that has not stopped people before.” Tang Fuzhen, a woman in the south-western city of Chengdu, took her life in November by setting herself on fire while a gang of men were trying to evict her family.

The incident was filmed and became a national scandal. Similar incidents have occurred elsewhere. The public outcry prompted five leading legal scholars to publish an open letter in December which said that land seizure regulations were in breach of the constitution and a landmark property law passed in 2007.

They said it was too easy for local governments to decide urban land could be seized for redevelopment. And while it is the government’s responsibility to take care of demolition and negotiate compensation with residents, they said that in reality this was often done by developers and demolition companies.

In recent years developers have been accused of hiring thugs to bully reluctant residents out of their homes.

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