2008

Description of a Landesa program in China funded by a $198,000 grant from the World Bank to create a Legal Aid and Education Center to provide free and accessible legal education to farmers in rural counties of Guangxi province, and reach out to local area governments and villagers’ committees to increase awareness of farmers’ land rights. Every year more than one million farmers lose their agricultural land due to state expropriations, land readjustments or other forms of compulsory takings in China. Most farmers do not possess basic knowledge about their land rights under the law. The project will be the first of its kind in China, because there are few legal aid services in the countryside, let alone a legal aid center devoted to farmers’ agricultural land rights. | Link to information

2011

A presentation by Landesa staff about a nationwide survey of farming families in China, in which the researchers describe issues relating to documenting land rights, investments in land, an emerging land market, compulsory land takings, and corporate leasing and farming, and offer recommendations.  | Download PDF

2010

This paper by staff from Landesa (then called the Rural Development Institute) explores the impact of the Chinese government’s policy measures to improve forest coverage, which aim to protect land from soil erosion and improve overall ecological status, but have negatively impacted the livelihoods of forest farmers who rely on forest production for living. The paper discusses regulatory takings laws in the US and some European countries; describes regulatory takings laws that govern the definition of regulatory taking, compensation standards for such takings and procedural requirements for filing a regulatory takings claim; and recommends legislative reforms for China’s regulatory takings, taking into account the unique characteristics of China’s property rights institution. | Download PDF

2010

This study by staff from Landesa (then called the Rural Development Institute)  examines the case of one Foreign Direct Investment made by Stora Enso with International Finance Corporation support in forestland plantations in Guangxi, China. The study (conducted between December 2009 and June 2010) finds that despite Stora Enso’s good intentions for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), there are major limits to their legal due diligence, which raise risks for local people to both their rights to land and livelihoods. The study points to the continued difficulty of meeting local laws, much less global standards, by foreign investors who hold a commitment to CSR. | Download PDF

FEBRUARY 2011 – 2010 findings from 2010 survey of 17-provinces in rural China show that reforms have boosted farm incomes but significant challenges remain. China continues to boost economic development in the countryside by extending secure land tenure rights to its 200 million farming families, according to findings from a 17 province survey, published in the 2011 Chinese Academy of Social Sciences’ Rule of Law Blue Book. | View report online | Download PDF

The Land Rush: Commercial Land Acquisitions in Developing Countries

An issue brief outlining the historical context, facts, misconceptions, risks, benefits, recommendations for investors, and resources for further reading.

An analysis published in New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, 2006 | download PDF

A joint report by Landesa and Rights and Resources Initiative | download PDF

A Report by Landesa and Rights and Resources Initiative | download PDF

This report summarizes the evidence on rural land tenure in China amassed through the authors’ extensive rural field research. It identifies the factors contributing to land tenure insecurity in China, then analyzes the positive features and shortcomings of the new Land Management Law in addressing land tenure insecurity and other rural land problems. It also provides suggestions for both improving and effectively implementing the law. Finally, the report discusses and offers suggestions concerning other rural land-related policy and legal measures outside the current scope of the new law. | download PDF