This Law is enacted in compliance with the Constitution, aiming at strengthening the administration of land, safeguarding the socialist public ownership of land, protecting and developing land resources, ensuring a rational use of and giving a real protection to cultivated land to promote sustainable development of the socialist economy. The Law is divided into 8 Chapters: General Provisions (I); Ownership and Right to the Use Land (II); General Plans for the Utilization of Land (III); Protection of Cultivated Land (IV); Land for Construction Purposes (V); Supervision and Examination (VI); Legal Responsibilities (VII); Supplementary Provisions (VIII).
The Law grants the ownership of land in rural and suburban areas to the collectives. Such land must be registered and recorded by the Governments at the county level. State-owned land may be used by units or by individuals and is recorded by local People's Governments. A land survey and statistics system is introduced. The People's Governments at all levels are responsible for the preparation of plans for land utilization and urban planning must agree with the overall plan for land utilization. Overall plans for land utilization shall be complied under the principles prescribed in Article 17, including: (1) Implementing the requirements for the development and protection of the national land space, and strictly controlling the purpose control; (2) Strictly protecting permanent basic farmland and controlling occupation of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes; (3) Improving the level of conservation and intensive utilization of land.; (4) Making overall arrangements for urban and rural production, living and ecological land, meeting the reasonable needs of rural industrial and infrastructure land, and promoting the integrated urban and rural development; (5) Protecting and improving the ecological environment and ensuring the sustainable utilization of land; (6) Keeping a balance between cultivated land occupied and cultivated land developed and reclaimed, and ensuring equal quality. The State protects the cultivated land and strictly controls the conversion of cultivated land into non-cultivated land. The cultivated land listed in Article 34 shall be demarcated as basic farmland protection areas and subject to stringent control according to the overall plans for the utilization of land.
The Law further makes provisions, inter alia, the protection of tenure right holders, the procedures for the transaction of land tenure rights to non-local entities and individuals, etc. The acquisition of land is limited to clearly defined purposes and procedures.