耕地保护责任 (gēngdì bǎohù zérèn): Responsibility for farmland protection

The State Council, China's Cabinet, recently issued a document to hold provincial governments and officials accountable for farmland protection in local areas.

The document, which took immediate effect, requires provincial governments and officials to safeguard the red line of farmland and strictly protect permanent basic arable land. The central authorities are required to set targets for provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to preserve the area of cultivated land and permanent capital farmland, as well as create high-quality farmland. A system for evaluating how well provincial-level governments protect farmland is also to be established.

According to the regulation heads of provincial governments, autonomous regions or municipalities bear the primary responsibility for farmland protection.
The document stipulates that the State Council should take the lead in evaluating farmland protection efforts based on factors including farmland area, the area of farmland reused for ecological purposes and the quality of farmland. The Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Agriculture and National Bureau of Statistics will take charge of the inspection work.

Provincial-level governments who do a good job in protecting farmland will be rewarded and given favorable treatment in land use plans and funds for land management and farmland quality improvement in the future.