Old-age support in rural areas is a great challenge. According to media reports, Pingluo county in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region plans to introduce a new land for pension scheme for local residents.
The new model not only aims to explore a new old-age support system in rural areas, but also intends to broaden the land transfer channels for rural families.
But the overall amount of collective construction land of rural residents is calculated to be as high as 20 billion hectares. If even a small part of this land is traded, there will be a huge amount of old-age support fund. The problem is that a majority of land in the farmers' hands cannot be transferred due to the laws and regulations.
According to the new arrangement, farmers give their house ownership, land for home use right, land contract and management right to the government, and they will get compensation accordingly.
To achieve the sustainability of the policy and guarantee the fairness and equality of trade, more players should be incorporated in the new "land-for-pension" model, especially private capital.