Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 17 — The General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council recently issued the "Pilot Program for the Delegation and Agency Mechanism of Ownership of Natural Resource Assets Owned by All the People" (hereinafter referred to as the "Program"), and sent out a notice requiring all regions and departments to conscientiously implement it in light of their actual conditions.

　　The “Plan” points out that, in order to promote the coordinated reform of the property rights system for natural resource assets and implement the unified exercise of the duties of the owner of all-nation-owned natural resource assets, we will explore establishing a delegation and agency mechanism for the ownership of all-nation-owned natural resource assets and carry out pilot programs.

　　The “Plan” emphasizes that the pilot work should be guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping’s Thought on Ecological Civilization, take the owner’s responsibilities as the main thread, rely on the inventory of natural resources, build upon surveying, monitoring, and property rights registration, and focus on effectively fulfilling the roles of property right holders. It aims to gain a clear understanding of the nation’s natural resource assets, exercise owner’s rights in accordance with the law, implement effective management and protection measures, strengthen assessment and supervision, and provide robust support for genuinely safeguarding and upholding the state’s ownership rights, promoting the efficient allocation and preservation and appreciation of natural resource assets, and advancing ecological civilization construction.

　　The “Plan” states that the responsibilities of the owner of natural resource assets owned by all the people include asserting ownership, exercising rights, fulfilling obligations, assuming responsibilities, and implementing rights and interests.

　　The “Plan” clearly stipulates that a pilot program for the delegation of ownership and agency responsibilities will be launched for eight categories of natural resource assets—including land, minerals, oceans, forests, grasslands, wetlands, water, and national parks—that are owned by the entire people (including natural ecological spaces). First, the plan clarifies the mode of exercising ownership rights: the State Council, acting on behalf of the state, exercises ownership over natural resources owned by the entire people. The Ministry of Natural Resources is authorized to uniformly perform the duties of the owner of these natural resource assets owned by the entire people; some of these duties will be directly performed by the Ministry, while others will be delegated by the Ministry to provincial and prefectural-level governments for agency performance—subject to any specific legal provisions. Second, a list of natural resources will be compiled, clearly defining the rights and responsibilities of both the principal and the agent. The Ministry of Natural Resources, together with relevant departments, will compile a list of natural resources over which the central government directly exercises ownership rights; pilot regions will compile lists of natural resources for which provincial and prefectural-level governments will act as agents in performing the owner’s duties. Third, authorities will exercise their powers and fulfill their duties in accordance with the law based on the delegated agency responsibilities. Relevant departments, as well as provincial and prefectural-level governments, will establish and improve ownership management systems in line with their respective owner’s duties. Fourth, research and exploration will be conducted to identify the objectives and key areas of focus for the entrusted management of different types of resources. Fifth, supporting systems for the delegation and agency arrangement will be refined and improved, including the exploration of establishing an assessment mechanism for fulfilling owner’s duties and setting up a working mechanism for agents to report to principals on the management of entrusted assets and the performance of their duties.

　　The “Plan” proposes launching a pilot program simultaneously in all provinces (autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government) as well as in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps. By 2023, a unified ownership delegation and agency mechanism—characterized by unified exercise of rights, categorized implementation, tiered agency, and equal rights and responsibilities—will be basically established. Property rights holders will fully implement their responsibilities, management authorities and duties will become clearer, the inventory of assets will be largely determined, resource protection will be strengthened, asset allocation will become more efficient, the revenue management system will be further improved, preliminary assessment and evaluation standards will be set up, and owners’ rights and interests will be effectively safeguarded. A number of replicable and scalable reform achievements will be produced, accumulating practical experience for fully implementing the unified exercise of ownership responsibilities and for revising and improving relevant laws and regulations.

　　The “Plan” requires that all regions and relevant departments carefully organize and advance the pilot work. A cross-departmental coordination mechanism for the pilot work, led by the Ministry of Natural Resources, should be established. Pilot regions are also required to set up corresponding coordination mechanisms to promote the relevant work. Differentiated exploration is encouraged; any problems identified should be promptly corrected, and major issues should be reported to the Party Central Committee and the State Council in a timely manner according to established procedures. (China Mining News)