By staff reporter Chang Hongxiao

From Caijing Online

The investigation, conducted jointly by the U.S. Rural Development Institute, Renmin University, and the Michigan State University, showed that in 17 major agricultural provinces only 47 percent of local villagers had secured certificates.

The lowest rate of certificate holders was in Guizhou Province, where only a little more than 10 percent had papers. The second lowest was in Heilongjiang Province, at less than 20 percent. Sichuan, Henan, Shaanxi, Heilongjiang followed subsequently.

The percent of contract holders was even less, totaling only 33 percent. Guangxi Province had the fewest at less than 10 percent. It was followed by Guizhou Province, with nearly 10 percent, and then Anhui, Yunnan, Fujian, Heilongjiang, Hubei, Shaanxi.

The highest rate in farmland readjustment occurred in Jilin Province. On the other side of the scale was Guizhou Province, which came in with relatively low figures for signed contracts, certificate acquisition and farmland readjustment.

Misinterpretations of the law were a prevalent source of problems, said investigators. Some farmers mistakenly thought that if a girl was married, her share of land would be forfeited to the village government. The actual law stipulates that land stays with the family.

The independent study also challenged the effectiveness of some of the central government’s agricultural policies. One measure singled out was the practice of relocating farmers from the countryside and moving them into urban high-rises as a means of acquiring rural land. Scholars argue that this infringes on the farmers’ right to residential property.

To gather data for their investigation, researchers visited 1,773 villagers in 1,656 villages spread across 17 major agriculture provinces.

Article in Chinese: http://www.caijing.com.cn/2009-01-11/110046850.html