The Ministry of Natural Resources recently issued the “ 2016 Key Priorities for Annual Land and Resources Work, Locked In 2016 Ten Key Work Priorities for Land and Resources in the Year:

　　First, we will make every effort to ensure stable growth and structural adjustment. We will accelerate the issuance of annual land-use plans, secure land for major national projects, rationally adjust the structure of industrial land use, refine land and resource policies that promote coordinated regional development, further standardize land reserve operations, continuously advance the strategic initiative for breakthroughs in geological exploration and mineral discovery, and optimize the layout of mineral resource exploration and development.

　　Second, we must rigorously implement and innovate the system for protecting cultivated land. We will fully enforce the strictest possible system for protecting cultivated land, complete the designation of permanent basic farmland in its entirety, promote land consolidation and the construction of high-standard farmland, improve the system for balancing land occupation with compensation, and implement a performance evaluation system for fulfilling cultivated land protection responsibilities.

　　Third, we will deepen the promotion of resource conservation and intensive use. We will implement a dual-control action on the total amount and intensity of construction land use, strictly enforce spatial controls over construction land, vigorously carry out comprehensive land remediation, refine the standards system for construction land use, improve the incentive and constraint mechanisms for saving and intensifying land use, establish and enhance the evaluation and assessment system for resource-saving and intensive land use, and strengthen the conservation and integrated utilization of mineral resources.

　　Fourth, we will comprehensively deepen reform in the field of land and resources. We will deepen reform of the rural land system, consolidate the achievements of the unified real estate registration reform, advance reform of the resource management system, accelerate reform of the oil and gas exploration and exploitation system, promote reform of mineral rights management, and further deepen reform of the administrative approval system.

　　Fifth, we must strengthen geological environmental protection and geological hazard prevention and control. We will enhance the protection and remediation of geological environments in mining areas, reinforce geological hazard prevention and control measures, step up groundwater monitoring and ground subsidence prevention, and promote the conservation of paleontological fossils and the development of geoparks.

　　Sixth, comprehensively advance the building of a law-based land administration system. Promote legislation and amendment of laws in key areas, uphold administrative governance based on the rule of law, enforce laws strictly and strengthen land supervision. Continuously enhance the rule-of-law standards for handling petitions and reporting violations, and further promote transparency in government information and administrative affairs.

　　Seventh, we will fully support the fight against poverty. We will ensure that land requirements for poverty alleviation are met, expand and refine the policy linking increases and decreases in urban and rural construction land use, support the development of specialty industries in impoverished regions, bolster ecological conservation efforts in these areas, explore ways to enable impoverished regions to share more of the benefits from asset ownership, and effectively carry out targeted poverty alleviation efforts as well as coordination work in the Wumeng Mountain area.

　　Eighth, strengthen scientific and technological innovation and international cooperation. Promote scientific and technological innovation in land and resource management, expand new avenues for cooperative development in land and resources, and focus on coordinated planning. “ Two resources, two markets ” , boost “ The Belt and Road ” Construction.

　　The ninth priority is to consolidate foundational work. We must prepare and implement various plans effectively, strengthen land surveying and monitoring efforts, accelerate the development of information systems for land and resources, enhance geological and mineral resource surveys and evaluations, bolster socialized services and public awareness campaigns related to geological data, and advance the establishment of mechanisms for assessing and monitoring the environmental carrying capacity of land and resources as well as early warning systems.

　　The tenth is to strengthen Party conduct and integrity building as well as team capability development. Carry out... “ Capacity Building Year ” The initiative aims to strengthen practical training for cadres, enhance their capabilities in investigation and research, uphold comprehensive and strict Party governance, and intensify efforts to combat corruption.

　　According to the... 2016 Key Work Priorities for Land and Resources in the Year, 2016 The overall guiding principle for land and resources work this year is to fully implement the spirit of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Plenary Sessions of the 18th Central Committee, and earnestly carry out the arrangements made at the Central Economic Work Conference, the Poverty Alleviation and Development Work Conference, the Urban Work Conference, and the Rural Work Conference. We will be guided by Deng Xiaoping Theory, “ The Three Represents ” Guided by important thought and the Scientific Outlook on Development, we will thoroughly implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s series of important speeches and act in accordance with... “ Five-in-one ” Overall layout and “ The Four Comprehensive Strategies ” Strategic planning should firmly establish and earnestly implement the five development concepts, adapt to the new normal of economic development, uphold the fundamental national policies of protecting cultivated land and conserving resources, deepen reform while maintaining stability and seeking progress, and focus on the five key policy pillars to intensify structural reforms. We must actively support steady growth, adjust the economic structure, improve people’s livelihoods, and prevent risks. We will make every effort to promote capacity reduction, destocking, deleveraging, cost reduction, and addressing shortcomings. We must regard resource protection as the primary task in fulfilling our duties and responsibilities; view resource conservation as the top priority for promoting scientific development; take benefiting the people through resource utilization as the guiding direction for enhancing their well-being; regard deepening reform as a powerful driving force for improving resource security; and consider perfecting the rule of law as the fundamental guarantee for administering according to law. We will further refine the land management system, further optimize the pattern of land and resource development and utilization, further strengthen resource conservation and integrated utilization, enhance the quality and efficiency of land and resource supply, and thus contribute to achieving... “ Two Centennials ” The goal of striving forward lays a more solid resource foundation.