Recently, following deliberation and approval at the 29th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform, the Ministry of Natural Resources and six other departments jointly issued the “Measures for the Unified Registration of Property Rights over Natural Resources (Trial)” (hereinafter referred to as the “Measures”), which require the registration of property rights over state-owned natural resources to further clarify the rights and protection scope of these resources. What is the significance of issuing these Measures? What specific contents do they cover? And how should the unified registration of property rights over natural resources be carried out? To address these questions, a representative from the Department of Land Registry Management (Real Estate Registration Bureau) of the Ministry of Natural Resources provided an interpretation of the “Measures.”

For green mountains that endure, clear waters that flow endlessly, and air that stays fresh.

Natural resources such as water flows, forests, mountain ranges, grasslands, wastelands, and tidal flats are the fundamental carriers for building a beautiful China and deepening institutional reforms in ecological civilization; they represent crucial resource-based assets. The formulation of these “Measures” for unified property rights registration and confirmation of natural resources—including water flows, forests, mountain ranges, grasslands, wastelands, and tidal flats—will help further advance property rights system reform, establish a systematic and comprehensive ecological civilization institutional framework, and promote the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity. This is a task that benefits both the present generation and future generations.

The official pointed out that the unified registration of property rights over natural resources is a crucial foundation for supporting the construction of an ecological civilization. The key to building an ecological civilization lies in properly managing the relationship between humans and nature—ensuring that economic and social development is based on resources that can be sustainably utilized, environments that can absorb such development, and ecosystems that are effectively protected. This will help preserve lush green mountains, ensure clear waters flow endlessly, and maintain fresh air, enabling people to live and work in a healthy ecological environment. To achieve this goal, we must first carry out unified registration of property rights over natural resources, comprehensively ascertain the status of our natural resource assets, and solidify the foundation for building an ecological civilization.

Unified registration of property rights over natural resources is a fundamental requirement for implementing the new development philosophy. The 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China incorporated ecological civilization into the “Five-in-One” overall layout, and the Fifth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee included green development as one of the five development concepts. Green development means pursuing development through conservation—protecting productive forces by safeguarding the environment and enhancing productive forces by improving environmental conditions. Unified registration of property rights over natural resources can fully identify the rightful owners of natural resources, clarify protection responsibilities, and mobilize the enthusiasm of these right holders in protecting natural resources. This, in turn, promotes the protection and regulation of natural resources, fosters green development, and thus fulfills the fundamental requirement of implementing the five development concepts.

Unified registration of property rights over natural resources is a crucial prerequisite for implementing differentiated policies, ensuring effective protection, and promoting the rational development and utilization of these resources. Adopting differentiated policies and effectively protecting natural resources—and rationally developing and utilizing those that are suitable for such purposes—constitutes the best form of environmental protection. Through unified registration of property rights over natural resources, we can comprehensively ascertain the quality, quantity, and protection requirements of various types of natural resources, clearly publicize this information through legal registration, and assign these responsibilities to specific owners or users. This process provides an essential foundation for implementing differentiated policies, ensuring effective protection, and promoting the rational development and utilization of natural resources.

Clearly define the rights and protection scope of different types of natural resources at the national level.

The overall guiding principle behind the formulation of these Measures is to build a unified system of property rights registration for natural resources, based on real estate registration. This system will provide unified property rights registration for all natural resources, including water flows, forests, mountains, grasslands, wastelands, tidal flats, and mineral resources. It will gradually clarify the boundaries between resources owned by the entire people and those owned collectively; delineate the boundaries between resources owned by the entire people and those under the ownership exercised by governments at different levels; define the boundaries among different collective owners; and distinguish among various types of natural resources. Furthermore, it will clearly specify the rights and protection scopes associated with different types of national natural resources, thereby promoting the rule of law in property rights registration. The official in charge provided an explanation of the overall content of these Measures.

Chapter 1—General Provisions—sets forth the purposes, principles, and scope of natural resource registration, as well as its linkage with real estate registration, the registration authorities, and the principle of local jurisdiction. With regard to the scope of registration, the natural resources requiring registration are explicitly defined through enumeration, and it is emphasized that ownership of collectively-owned land and natural resources already registered in real estate registration shall not be re-registered.

Chapter 2, the Register of Natural Resources, specifies the standardization of the Register of Natural Resources, the delineation of registration units, the content of the register, accompanying maps, and management requirements. The register primarily records information on the registration of natural resources as well as related information on real property rights, and ensures effective integration with the real estate registration system. There are two key issues here: First, the establishment and delineation of natural resource registration units. These units can be based on an entire administrative jurisdiction, divided into one or more units according to different types of natural resources, their importance in ecological, economic, and national defense aspects, and principles such as relatively complete ecological functions and contiguous, concentrated areas. Alternatively, specific spatial units—such as national parks, nature reserves, wetlands, and waterways—can serve as individual registration units. Second, the identification of the entity exercising state ownership over natural resources. In accordance with relevant provisions of the Constitution and the Property Law, the entity entitled to state ownership of natural resources can only be registered as either “the State” or “the whole people.” At the same time, to ensure smooth alignment with the reforms aimed at “improving the state’s natural resource asset management system” and “exploring the establishment of a tiered system for exercising state ownership over natural resources,” the design of the Register of Natural Resources includes fields such as “Entity Representing Ownership Rights” and “Content of Ownership Rights Representation.” After these two reform tasks are completed, supplementary entries will be made, leaving room for future reforms.

Chapter 3, "General Procedures for Registration of Natural Resources," specifies the types of registration, registration procedures, notices and public announcements, natural resource surveys, registration review, and entry into the registry. For the registration of natural resource types, the classification based on the current land use status shall serve as the foundation. At the same time, taking into account the specific characteristics, classification systems, and needs of various departments in natural resource management, other natural resource classification categories may be recorded simultaneously in the registry, provided that such recording does not conflict with or disrupt the existing system and is compatible with it.

Chapter 4, on the registration of natural resources such as national parks, nature reserves, wetlands, and waterways, specifies how these types of natural resources are to be registered as registration units.

Chapter 5, "Management and Application of Registration Information," stipulates that natural resource registration information shall be made publicly available to the society in accordance with the law and incorporated into the real estate registration information management platform, thereby enabling interoperability and data sharing with relevant administrative departments. Except for information involving state secrets and real estate registration information, the results of natural resource rights confirmation and registration shall be made public to the society, and the relevant registration information shall be integrated into the foundational platform for real estate registration information management.

Carry out property rights registration based on real estate registration.

The 29th meeting of the Central Leading Group for Comprehensively Deepening Reform has clearly required that, based on real estate registration and guided by standardized content and procedures, unified registration of natural resources be carried out. The use of real estate registration as a foundation for unified property rights registration of natural resources primarily stems from the fact that the establishment and implementation of the real estate registration system have provided both the foundational framework and the path selection for carrying out such unified property rights registration of natural resources.

The official pointed out that, from the perspective of the real estate registration system, over the past several years, the system has essentially taken shape around four key unifications: the registration agencies, the registration ledgers, the basis for registration, and the information platforms. From the standpoint of the objects or specific forms of natural resource registration, these natural resources either exist in the form of land itself or are inherently tied to land. Therefore, carrying out rights confirmation and registration of natural resources is inseparable from land registration, and land serves as the foundation for real estate registration. Currently, real estate registration already covers ownership or usage rights for certain types of natural resources. Building on this foundation, conducting unified rights confirmation and registration of natural resources will help clearly delineate boundaries among state ownership, collective ownership, the respective scopes of ownership exercised by governments at different levels under state ownership, boundaries among different collective owners, and boundaries among various types of natural resources. It will also facilitate linking ownership and usufructuary rights in real estate registration with ownership rights in the unified registration of natural resources; ensure effective integration between real estate registration ledgers and natural resource registration ledgers; and enable comprehensive collection and integration of both real estate registration data and natural resource registration data. In short, taking real estate registration as the foundation, adopting this approach for unified rights confirmation and registration of natural resources represents the optimal path—offering the lowest costs and highest efficiency.