Research On Protection Of Farmers’ Rights And Interests In Homestead Replacement

With the quickening of the process of industrialization and urbanization, the conflict between the scarcity of land resources and demand for land usage is becoming increasingly acute. How to protect arable land while satisfying the demand for urban and rural construction has been made an important part of China’s land system reforms in the new era after the central government’s setting of a red line of 1.8 billion mu of arable land. In 2006, the Ministry of Land and Resources(MLR) announced the trial work of linking the increase in land used for urban construction with the decrease in land used for rural construction as part of its notice regarding the management according to law of the economical and intensive use of land and the construction of a new socialist countryside. Under these circumstances, homestead replacement has been carried out around China. The homestead replacement will play a role in easing the conflict between the scarcity of land resources and demand for land usage, advancing China’s urbanization process, and improving living conditions of farmers. It is also a good try at breaking up the rural-urban dual structure and easing the imbalance between land supply and demand when homesteads are prohibited from entering the market. However, homesteads are not only farmers’ places to live, but also demonstrate traditional courtyard agricultural economy and lifestyle. Thus, the guarantee of farmers’ rights of interests is of great importance in the process of homestead replacement. Currently, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Tianjin, Sichuan among other cities have made unique homestead replacement models based on their own social and economical development, with Tianjin being the first to make its own homestead replacement model. Tianjin’s model is also the most typical. As such, this article will analyze the protection of farmers’ rights and interests in the process of homestead replacement, with Tianjin serving as an example.Apart from foreword and conclusion, this thesis is divided into three parts:The first part focuses on general theory of homestead replacement, including the right to use homesteads, the significance of the replacement, and definition of farmers’ rights and interests during the replacement.The second part mainly discusses the deficiencies of Tianjin’s homestead replacement model in protecting farmers’ rights and interests through analyzing their property rights, procedural rights, and survival rights. Why the city has developed and how it is carrying out the model and problems lying in the design of the model are also elaborated in this part.In the third part, the author of this thesis suggests further completion of related laws and regulations to protect farmers’ rights and interests, saying that the establishment of a value-added gainsharing system is also needed in addition to a further completed compensation system and replacement procedures.