China's inaugural specialized legislation for farmland protection will officially take effect on January 1, 2027. The law, formally titled the Farmland Protection and Quality Improvement Law of the People's Republic of China, was recently reviewed and approved at the 24th session of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People's Congress.
Structured with eight chapters and 72 articles, the new law systematically integrates existing provisions on farmland protection within the current legal framework, including the Land Administration Law, the Food Security Law, and the Black Soil Protection Law. The legislation is considered to fill a critical gap in China's legal system regarding this specific domain.
Explicitly, the law establishes the implementation of a strictest farmland protection system, advocating for a "trinity" protection approach covering quantity, quality, and ecology. It mandates joint responsibility of the Party and government for farmland protection and food security, ultimately assigning specific protection obligations to individual plots of land and responsible persons.
Highlighting the foundational role of farmland, an official from the Legislative Affairs Commission's Civil Law Office described the law as providing robust legal backing to safeguard this "lifeline" and solidify the groundwork for national food security. Drawing from practical experience, the law translates the strategic concept of "storing grain in the land and technology" into statutory provisions, establishing a complete institutional chain that coordinates quantity control, quality improvement, and ecological protection.
Beyond merely determining the total amount of farmland, the legislation marks a strategic shift in China's approach. It evolves from a singular focus on maintaining a "red line" of quantity towards actively enhancing quality, thereby strengthening the legal foundation for food security. The law quantifies the existing "red line" for permanent basic farmland by stipulating that such land should generally account for at least 80% of all farmland within each province, autonomous region, or municipality.
Addressing persistent challenges, the legislation tackles issues such as the conversion of farmland for non-agricultural or non-grain purposes, deficiencies in the occupying-compensation balance system, soil degradation, and farmland abandonment. By codifying previously scattered departmental policies into a cohesive law, it aims to overcome the fragmentation and inadequate incentive and constraint mechanisms of the past.
An expert from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs' Planning and Design Institute noted that the law transforms effective policies into lasting legal norms. This shift aims to move management of farmland from simple control towards comprehensive care, utilization, and nurturing. It clarifies legal pathways for administrative departments and grassroots bodies to perform their duties.
The law creates a rigid constraint system by assigning graded responsibilities to local governments. Provincial governments are tasked with ensuring the total quantity of farmland does not decrease and its quality does not decline. If farmland quantity decreases, the State Council will mandate replenishment of equivalent quantity and quality within a specified timeframe; similarly, actions will be taken if quality degrades or ecological functions are damaged.
Farmers and agricultural businesses will hold clear rights and obligations regarding land use. The law requires lease and transfer contracts to explicitly define responsibilities for reasonable use and protection. In cases of abandonment for over two years, measures such as organized alternative farming can be implemented following proper notification and public announcement procedures.
Stringent penalties are introduced for violations. For example, using farmland for landscaping, unauthorized afforestation, or dumping waste will result in restoration orders and fines ranging from five to ten times the local farmland reclamation fee. Unauthorized conversion of permanent basic farmland can incur fines of two to five times the reclamation fee.
The law also brings high-standard farmland infrastructure under legal protection. Damaging such facilities will necessitate restoring them within a set period or face fines of one to three times the restoration cost. This addresses a critical focus of recent food security strategy, given that over 100 million hectares of high-standard farmland have been built.
While high-standard farmland has contributed to a 10-20% increase in grain output and a reduced disaster impact area, experts caution against prioritizing construction targets over operational management. The law underscores that effective protection requires effort not just on land quantity data, but also on soil fertility improvement, maintenance, and ecological restoration to achieve a comprehensive rise in grain production capacity.
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