China to enhance legal protection of farmlands

Farmers spread pesticide on wheat fields in Hushan town, Rongcheng, Shandong province. (LI XINJUN / FOR CHINA DAILY)

BEIJING – China will expedite the formulation of a farmland protection law, a further step to safeguard the country's farmlands, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Existing regulations, such as the prohibited non-agricultural use of arable land, will be elevated to law, the ministry said.

Existing regulations, such as the prohibited non-agricultural use of arable land, will be elevated to law, the the Ministry of Natural Resources said

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China always adheres to the strictest farmland protection system, striving to ensure its farmland acreage remains above the redline of 120 million hectares.

At the end of 2019, China had a total of 128 million hectares of farmland, according to a national land survey.

In 2022, the country will develop 6.67 million hectares of high-standard farmland, promote national projects on black soil protection, and launch the third nationwide soil condition census, according to the No 1 Central Document released in February. 

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