A Preliminary Research On Land Management System Reforms In Shenzhen

Establishing and improving the land system which is harmonious with the development level of productivity, are the major contents of the institutional change and main impetus of social evolution. The land institution is the most fundamental political and economic institution of our nation. The issue of land institutional change is the core problem of the economic development whether in the past, now or in the future. It affects the overall situation of economic and social development in our country.At present, we are facing some complicated land issues, such as issues in agricultural society, in transitional society or in urban society. Generally, land management institutions are suitable for the situation of China. But it is inadaptable with the economic and social development and the construction of modern market economic system. It is urgency to promote a new round of land management institution reform.From the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee, a series of central meetings show the direction of land management regime reform and give some specific requirements. The Report to the Eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party of China arranges four important tasks such as optimization of the development of the land space etc. The contents of the land management regime in The Decision of the CPC Central Committee on Several Important Issues of Comprehensively Deepening Reform refer to many current essential problems in land use and management institutions. Meanwhile, the Decision also indicates direction, trend and breakthrough of the future land institution reform. The Central Economic Work Conference, Urbanization work conference and rural work conference give more details of arrangement of the land institution reform. Scholars of our and foreign countries also do some researches on the land property rights, marketization, the reform of land finance, urban-rural dual land system and the farmland institution reform etc. The institutional change theory, which emerged in the 70’s of last century, revealed the importance of institution in economic development. It shows a great theory significance to investigate China land management system reform. This paper bases on the institutional change theory, briefly reviews the process of the changes of land institutional since the founding of new China, and Shenzhen government’s exploration process in the reform of land management system. Meanwhile, this paper Points out the current land management system has made a great contribution for a rapid development of industrialization, urbanization and modernization in Shenzhen. But gradually some deep-seated problems which are not adaptive with the city development have been revealed. If we don’t make the systematic reform, and if we don’t construct the land management regime which is suitable to the development level of productivity, we will not make a sustainable development for future thirty years in Shenzhen.In May 2012,with the Ministry of Land and Resources and the People’s Government of Guangdong Province’s permission, Shenzhen Municipal CPC Committee and the People’s Government of Shenzhen Municipality launch a comprehensive reform experiment of land management regime. The reform experiment wants to find some new routes and accumulate experiences on how to allocate land resources efficiently with market, how to use the land efficiently and how to make laws on land management. This is the second reform in land management system after 20 years ago and also called the third land reform of China. The so-called new land reform is giving Shenzhen government some priorities to first carry out and first test on. This land institution reforms base on the principle of clear property rights, market allocation, economy utilization and scientific control. Moreover, reforms will make some experiments on improving the state-owned land property system, deepening the land resource marketing allocation, innovating real estates property capital operation mechanism and land second development mechanism. These reforms relate to eight key points and twenty items, and will explore the new land use and management pattern in high urbanization area in order to promote the level of the marketization of land resources and efficiency of the land use and the legalization of the land management.This paper introduces the general thoughts, scope, implementation arrangements and some preliminary results of the new round of land reforms. It points out that although we made some progresses on the land second development mechanism, deepening the land resource marketing allocation, innovating the control methods on land use in the past tow years, we are still facing some difficult problems, such as complicated land property, incomplete the top-level design, slow disposition with the idle land and absence of constructions of land management laws. Considered the mentioned reasons above, the writer, based on the institution change theory and the real situations in Shenzhen, gives some suggestions on how to complete the top-level design, improve the land property work, optimize the land second development mechanism, share the benefits with many sides, increase the level of allocating land resources efficiently with market, the enhance the dealing with the idle land, perfect the system of land law and construct the better legal environment etc.