"Adoption of the international model of a well-governed land expropriation system in China: problems and the way forward" by Linlin Li, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Presented as part of the "Panel on China's Land Management System Reform: Issues, Progress and Prospect" which took place during the annual World Bank Conference on Land and Poverty held in Washington DC from March 23 to 27, 2015. http://urban-africa-china.angonet.org/content/linlin-li-and-eric-yeboah-discussion

1. Adoption of the international model of a well-governed
land expropriation system in China
—- problems and the way forward
Linlin Li (linlin.li@rug.nl)
Ph.D. Candidate
University of Groningen
The Netherlands

2. International documents on the governance of
land issues including expropriation
The Land Tenure Studies
of FAO No.10 (2009)
The LGAF of
WB (2012)
The VGGT of FAO
(2012)
The Working Paper of
GLTN (2013)
VGGT: voluntary guidelines on the governance of land tenure
LGAF: land governance assessment framework
GLTN: global land tool network

3. What is good land governance?
► The VGGT of FAO (2012)
▪ five founding principles of promoting responsible governance of land tenure: recognize and
respect all legitimate tenure rights; safeguard these tenure rights; promote and facilitate the
enjoyment of rigts; provide access to justice; and prevent tenrue disputes, conflicts and corruption
opportunities
 a responsible governance of land is a holistic and interconnected
system, and the fairness to the vulnerable people is the objective of land
tenure governance
► The LGAF of the World Bank (2012)
▪focuses on the assessment of the effectiveness of such an interconnected system
▪the 21 Land Governance Indicators (LGIs) and 80 dimensions to these indicators
 good land governance should be cost-effective and efficient, in
addition to the fairness

4. What is good land governance?
►The Working Paper of the GLTN (2013)
▪Evictions, Acquisition, Expropriation and Compensation: Practices and Selected Case
Studies
 requirements for better definition of pubic interest and a fair compensation
are proposed, and more elements should be included in expropriation system
► The Land Tenure Studies of FAO No.10—the Compulsory
Acquisition of Land and Compensation (2009)
 Each phase of land expropriation should be well planned and judicially
protected
☺ Good land governance should base on a right balance
between efficiency of the process and fairness to the affected
people

5. A redefinition of expropriation from a
governance perspective
Fairness Efficiency
A well-
governed
expropriation
procedure

6. A redefinition of expropriation from a
governance perspective
More elements
should be added to
the expropriation
system, e.g. judicial
review and
transparency
A prior examination
on the necessity of
the expropriation
itself
Additional methods
to evaluate public
purpose and fair
compensation
A broader
participation
framework

7. 4 phases in land expropriation
 1. Approval of expropriation plan
 2. Compensation and resettlement decision
 3. Implementation
 4. Monitoring the use
(pariticipation should be improved in all 4
phases)

8. Phase 1: approval of an expropriation plan
The international
framework
1. Public purpose should be clearly
enumerated in law
2. In the case of inclusive
lists/open-ended article, a SIA and
a developed land use planning
system
3. Attempts to acquire the land
through voluntary transactions
4. If the voluntary purchase failed,
power imbalances, provision of
related info., people who can
participate and forms of
participation
5. Judicial review
Land expropriation in
China
1. Not listed
2. No SIA (SSRA only for E of
houses on state-owned land);
government-dominated
planning
3. No such attempts
4. No effective participation; only
one public hearing either in
phase 1 or phase 2 (not
compulsory)
5. In the case of disagreements,
may sue the agency directly
(the new APL)SSRA: Social Stability Risk Assessment
APL: Administrative Procedure Law
SIA: Social Impact Assessment

9. Phase 2: compensation and resettlement
decision
The international framework
1. The state shall ensure a fair
valuation and a fair
compensation (market value of
the land)
2. The affected people may hire
their own valuers and
independent valuation
agencies
3. Be compensated or resettled
with alternative land first
4. Judicial review
Land expropriation in China
1. Not market value (based
on original land use, much
lower)
2. Can only be valued by
authorities
3. Yes
4. If disagree, may sue the
agency directly (the new
APL)

10. Phase 3: implementation of expropriation
The international framework
1. Only after the entire
compensation or a substantial
percentage of it has been received
by the affected people, may the
acquiring agency take possession
of the land
2. Clear rules on distribution of the
compensation between landowners
and actual land users
3. The affected farmer should have
enough time to vacate land or
recoup his investment in land
4. Judicial review
Land expropriation in China
1. Yes
2. No clear rules on the
distribution inside the village
collective
3. No clear rules
4. May sue the acquiring agency if
it breaks the compensation
agreement (the new APL)

11. Phase 4: monitoring the use of the
expropriated land
The international framework
1. A special monitoring agency
is supposed to be established
2. The affected party can help
to supervise if and how the
land is used
3. The original landholder
should have a right to
reacquire the expropriated
land if the land is not needed
due to changes of plans
4. Judicial review
Land expropriation in China
1. Yes -- the State Land
Supervision system
2. Emerging, but no clear
channels
3. Even if having new planning,
the original landholder has no
right to reacquire
4. No judicial review

12. Lessons for China from the international
framework (1)
A clear and rigid definition of public interest is crucial for
the justification of any land expropriation
As the legal basis for initiating any expropriations, a
well-functioning land use planning system is desired.
Participation of affected people (e.g. collective farmers )
should be introduced as much as possible to ensure the
fairness
1
2
3

13. Lessons for China from the international
framework (2)
A unified urban and rural market and a clear and fair
distribution of the compensation between the collective
and farmers involved are needed
The original landholder should have a right to
reacquire the expropriated land that is not used or the
use is changed
Judicial review should be available throughout the whole
process
4
5
6

14. Conclusion
The specialities of Chinese land system should also be
well considered
There is still a lot room for China, an efficiency pursuer,
to improve the fairness
4-phase participation in land expropriation can ensure
fairness to affected people
A right balance between efficiency and fairness is
desired in a well-governed expropriation procedure
1
4
3
2

15. Thank you for your attention