Ministries Jointly Issue Land Use Policy to Support New Industries

China’s Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) has recently released a series of supportive policy for land use of tourism and other new industries and new business forms.

In September, MLR and five other ministries (including the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Science and Technology) jointly issued the Opinions on Supporting the Land Use of New Industries, New Business Forms to Develop and Promote Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation.

At the end of November, MLR jointly with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development and the National Tourism Administration issued the Opinions on Land Use Policy to Support Tourism Development.

According to Dou Jingli, MLR’s Deputy Director of Land Use Administration, MLR and several other ministries jointly issued a series of land use guidelines for new industries, new business forms in order to support and foster their development. In particular, for small and medium-sized start-ups, those policies can help them resolve difficulties in getting land, said Dou.

As for development zones and industrial agglomeration with single production function, on the premise of meeting the urban and rural planning, construction land will be available properly for commodity retailing, accommodation, catering, business and finance and urban residential units according to the principle of centralised support, authorised supply and integrated management so as to promote transformation of the relevant zones from single production function to comprehensive functions, Dou added.

According to the policy, for the land portion without tying up or changing the shape of the surface, photovoltaic, wind power and other projects using the Gobi desert, grassland and other unused land may acquire land use permit by way of lease according to the type found in situ with no changes in land use. Charging facilities for new energy vehicles and mobile communications base stations and other new industries supporting facilities requiring small land area, multi-point distribution can take land by way of tie-in construction.

Meanwhile, on land use of new industries and business forms, the guidelines also include support for implementation of "Internet plus" action plans. Without changing the party with the right to use the land and the planning conditions, transitional policy of land use according to the original type of use and land rights will continue to be implemented on those involving internet information resources development, level 1 use of real estate stock, land resources development of new business formats, innovative business models and integration of online and offline businesses. Upon expiry of the transition period, it can be determined whether to use separate land use procedures based on detailed planning in business forms development and control.

For the Opinions on Supporting the Land Use of New Industries, New Business Forms to Develop and Promote Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation (in Chinese), please refer to: http://www.mlr.gov.cn/zwgk/zytz/201509/t20150918_1381525.htm

For the Opinions on Land Use Policy to Support Tourism Development (in Chinese), please refer to: http://g.mlr.gov.cn/gkml_9184/201512/t20151214_1391664.htm