To Empower And To Regulate: A Research On The Reform Of The Collectively-owned Forest Rights System

Since the founding of New China, the collectively-owned forest rights system has undergone five significant changes, thus initially structuring its basic frame. However, with the continual deepening of the structural reform of the socialist market economy, the traditional collectively-owned forest rights system has been found imperfect. Such problems have arisen as obscurity in the belongingness of forest rights, inconformity in the belongingness of forest rights, inconformity between the duty, rights and interests and tortuosity in distributing interests, which have become the systematical obstacles to the development of our country's collectively-owned forests.To bring the basical role of the market mechanism in the allocation of resources into full play, our country's《Forest Law》stipulates that the forest rights of the commercial forests can be transferred lawfully providing strong lawful guarantee for deepening the reform of the collectively-owned forest rights system. In June, 2003, the central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council issued《Decision on Quickening the Development of Forestry》, clearly pointing out that the forest property rights system should be further perfected. The re-creation of the collectively-owned forest rights system has once again, become an important task in the structural reform of our country's forestry management.The paper makes researches on a tentative plan for reforming collectively-owned forest rights system through lessons drawn from the present practice of the reform of the collectively-owned forest rights system, by summarizing its general law from the perspective of the conformity of the entrustment of rights with standardization and restriction and in guidance with the relative theories in economics and law. The tentative plan is characterized by clearness in the belonging of property rights, being at the position of the main managerial body, clear-cut division of the duty and rights, strict guarantee of the interests, standardized procedure of transference and effective supervision and service.The paper is divided into 12 chapters. The first is the introduction briefly introducing the background of choosing the subject and its significance the present state of researches on this subject at home and abroad and others. The second gives a definition to the core concept of the researches and introduces the basic theories applied by the article. The third mainly makes a summary of the general law in the reform of our country's collectively-owned forest rights system. The fourth states the present state of the reform and lists some of its problem. From the fifth to the eighth the significance of such things is expounded as the clearness of property right, the enlivening of managerial rights, the putting of disposition rights to gain interests and makes an initial analysis of the re-creation of the relation systems. The ninth relates the necessity of standardizing and restricting the collectively-owned forest rights system. The eleventh gives a proof of the researches in accordance with the practical examples of reforming the forest rights system in the city of Yongan, Fujian province and the county of Suichuan, Jiangxi province. And the twelfth deals with the conclusion of the researches and some suggestions on the policy and at the same time points out some of the re-creation the re-searches have made and also some problems that need to be further studied.The main conclusion: The clearing of property rights, making clear the main body of the collectively-owned forest rights through the entrustment of rights. The purpose of practicing standardization and restriction is to define the boundary of property rights. The entrustment of rights and the standardization and restriction are united in exclusive-ness. The enlivening of managerial rights. The practice of entrusting rights enables the managers to act on their own. The practice of standardization and restriction is to maintain a normal order of management. The entrustment of rights and the standardization and restriction are united in divisibility. The putting of disposition rights into place. Entrust the collectively-owned forest managers with disposition rights. The purpose of exerting standardization and restriction is to realize the conformity of the duty and rights, fully embodying the transferability of the collectively-owned forest rights. The ensuring of the rights to gain interests. It's not enough for the collectively-owned forest rights system to embody only the exclusive-ness, divisibility and transferability of property rights. It should also ensure the safety of property rights to bring their spurring function into full play. Suggestions on the policy: A guiding advice should be given as soon as possible to further clarify the fundamental target of reforming the collectively-owned forest rights system. The design of the collectively-owned forest rights system should fully reflect its basic nature, that is, to unfold around exclusiveness, divisibility, transferability and safety. The enthusiasm of both the managers and the government should be mobilized in managing the collectively-owned forests to realize the unity of the entrustment of right and standardization and restriction. Great importance should be attached to the interdynamic relation between the collectively-owned forest rights and its relative systems. The whole range of reforms should be actively carried out. And the operation environment of the collectively-owned forest rights system be further optimized.