This system innovation pursues the maximum possible elastic space for guaranteeing the interest of the farmers and brings up a win-win new space of the interest-conflicting parties.

Pilot Shareholding in Shaoguan for Participation in Expressway with Farming Land, Solving the Issue of Land Appropriation for 125.6 KM of Expressway

New progress has been achieved in pilot shareholding with farmland for highway construction of Guangdong Province. A few days ago, the coordinating/leading group for the construction of Qujiang-Nanxiong Expressway of Shaoguan City held a special meeting on the issue of land appropriation via shareholding participation by the farmers with their land for the construction of the total length of 125.6 km expressway, with the total price of the farmland contribution not lower than 30% of the total land appropriation fee. The highway management department of Guangdong Province alleged that, if this system can be implemented successfully, it will be a completely new attempt in the history of expressway construction of our province.
A circular of the Provincial Highway Management Bureau disclosed that the leading group for coordination work of Shaoguan expressway construction held recently a special meeting of all member organizations to discuss the implementation scheme for the construction work of Qujiang-Nanxiong Expressway of Shaoguan City and planned to solve the issue of land appropriation for the expressway construction in the form of land participation.

The meeting pointed out that the contributions by farmers with their land should be envisaged in view of alleviating the pressure of the local government in monetary contribution and long-term interest of the farmers, and should be promoted referring to the actual situation of the expressway projects, with the total price of contributions not lower than 30% of the total land appropriation fee. In the meantime, three supportive measures were formulated: First, all compensation fees for the collective land (property) shall be converted into participation shares; second, appropriate reward shall be granted to the farmers taking the initiative in participation; and third, propaganda and promotion work should be carried out earnestly to have more participating farmers. At present, the concrete implementation methods for participation with land are under research.

According to relevant information, the total length of Qujiang-Nanxiong Expressway of Shaoguan City is 125.6 km, passing through the Qujiang District, Zhenjiang City, Renhua County, Shixing County and Nanxiong City within the jurisdiction of Shaoguan. The estimated total construction cost is RMB6.843 billion, averaged to RMB54.46 million per kilometer. This project is to appropriate a land area of 1,017.5 ha, including 947.1 ha of agricultural land, or 93% of the total land to be appropriated (325.2 ha of cultivated land and 318.1 ha of primary farmland).

According to relevant information, there is a shortage of RMB9.78 billion in transportation funds of Guangdong Province during the 11th Five-Year Plan. By way of constructing expressways with pooling of land and other methods, the difficulties in counterpart funding and land appropriation can be solved; and meanwhile, conflicts and disputes during construction of the projects can be reduced, stable income of the farmers can be ensured after loss of their land, group events can be avoided, such as farmers appealing to the higher authorities for help due to improper handling and compensation.

Professor Guo Weiqing from the School of Government, Sun Yat-Sen University believes it is beyond all doubt a system innovation to let the farmers participate in project construction through the pooling of land. And it is certainly an approach to pursue the maximum possible elastic space for guarantee of the farmers' interest under the conditions of restriction in land ownership. This will help reducing the land-related disputes and bring up new spaces for all interest-conflicting parties. (Source: Nanfang Metropolitan News of March 11, 2006; reporter: Long Ke)