Chen said both the Chinese law and CPC policies allow for the transfer of contracting rights to farmland, and the No. 1 document just repeats past laws and policies and improves the mechanism for the transfer. No institutions or individuals could interfere with or force the transfer of land, the document says. Meanwhile, it encourages local governments to establish organizations to provide farmers with land transfer information, legal advice, dispute settlement and other services.

The document stresses the implementation of the strictest farmland protection system and the strictest system of land conservation that was put forward by the CPC session in October 2008. Moreover, the government will complete the reform of the mechanism for the management of collectively owned forestry in five years, with the focus on promoting the household contract of collective forestry land.

Rural-urban integration

The government will adopt a series of measures to narrow the rural-urban gap, according to the document. More efforts would go to developing culture, education, health care and other social welfare in the countryside, it said.

The government also will raise teachers' salaries and subsidize rural schools and students from poor families. This year, vocational school students from financially strained rural households and those majoring in agriculture-related subjects will be exempted from tuition fees.

The document requires local governments to increase financial subsidies for the new rural cooperative health insurance system and enhance construction investment in the public health care system. Moreover, central and provincial-level governments should raise the stipends for rural households to meet state-designated minimum subsistence standards, it said.

Key Points of the No. 1 Document I. Strengthening support for and protecting agriculture 1. Further increase input in agriculture and the countryside 2. Substantially increase agriculture subsidies 3. Keep prices of farm produce at a reasonable level 4. Strengthen the ability of financial services in the countryside II. Stabilizing the development of agriculture production 5. Strengthen support for grain production 6. Support competitive regions so they can concentrate on producing cash crops such as oil-bearing plants 7. Speed up the development of mass, standard and healthy stock and aquatic farming 8. Adopt strict whole-process monitoring for the quality safety of farm produce 9. Strengthen regulations for farm produce exports III. Strengthening material support for and service mechanisms of modern agriculture 10. Speed up scientific and technological innovations in agriculture 11. Speed up the construction of high-standard farmland 12. Strengthen the infrastructure construction of water resources 13. Speed up the promotion of the mechanization of agriculture 14. Promote the construction of key ecological projects 15. Strengthen the construction of market mechanisms for farm produce 16. Promote the construction of agricultural public service institutions at the grassroots level IV. Stabilizing and improving basic management mechanisms in the countryside 17. Stabilize land contractual relations in the countryside 18. Build up and improve the circulation market of the right to contract land 19. Adopt the strictest farmland protection system and the strictest system of land conservation 20. Fully promote the reform of collectively owned forest rights 21. Support the development of special farmers' cooperatives and leading enterprises V. Promoting the integration of economic and social development in urban and rural areas 22. Speed up social service development 23. Speed up infrastructure construction in the countryside 24. Actively expand the rural labor employment 25. Promote comprehensive reform in the countryside 26. Revitalize the economic development of counties 27. Actively exploit the rural market 28. Improve the state's poverty-relief strategy and policy system Source: Xinhua New Agency