Study On The Free Transfer Of Rural Collective Construction Land Use Right

The management system of collective construction land use rights is a special institutional arrangement under planned economic system in China. Since the opening up and reform, the reform of state-owned land use system has been undergoing steady progress, in contrast, the transfer system of rural collective construction land use right remains unchanged. The reform of the transfer system has a direct relevance with the stability and prosperity of agriculture, rural area and rural society, as well as with the sustainable development of national economy and society in China; therefore, the research on how to regulate the free transfer of collective construction land has a crucial significance.Based on rich sources of literature and backed up by a heavy program of field work, this paper has an in-depth exploration on the free transfer of rural collective construction land use right, to provide a theoretical reference for the authorities to make related policies.Firstly, the paper elaborates on related concept and theory of collective construction land use right and points out that the collective land use right, as an independent usufruct, has an equal footing with state-owned land use right, and therefore, shall enjoy equal protection. However, the current laws and policies impose strict restrictions on the transfer of collective construction land use right, leading to an unorganized and illegal transfer market. Therefore, regulating and freeing the transfer of collective construction land use right is both an objective demand of socialist market economy and an inevitable choice to alleviate the imbalance between supply and demand of construction land. Moreover, this is an irreversible trend for the reform of existing land acquisition system and the effort to balance the urban and rural development.Secondly, the paper also conducts a systematic analysis of the general situation, basic mode and reform probes of the transfer of collective construction land use right in China to reveal the problems in the current transfer system, including unregulated transaction, large underground market and unfair distribution of transfer earnings. The paper concludes that the major cause lies with the unclear definitions of owners of collective construction land and their legal rights in related laws and policies and the lack of transfer regulations.Lastly, the paper makes an in-depth exploration on how to regulate the transfer of collective construction land use right. Specifically, the paper proposes the principles, and regulations necessary for a feasible transfer system as well as policy advices of how to regulate the operation procedures and how to distribute the transfer earnings fairly.