Abstract：In the latest milestone of China's embrace of a market economy, the Communist Party announced a much-anticipated land reform plan in 2008. Under the system before 2008, all rural land is communally owned by village collectives controlled by local Communist Party officials, and plots are parceled out to farmers through 30-year land-use contracts. With the new policy, for the first time, farmers will be able to subcontract, lease, and transfer these land-use rights. Though stopping short of outright privatization, the reform will allow farmers, who make up more than 55% of China's total population, to use land as collateral to secure loans, invest in irrigation, expand plot sizes to create larger, more efficient farms, and otherwise boost agricultural productivity. The new changes, aimed at narrowing the growing gap between urban rich and rural poor, are expected to improve rural living standards. However, the rate of transaction is still low. This paper analyzes the reasons from the perspective of the relationship between demand and supply in Shaanxi province, and finds that the low rate of land transaction is due to the current land system, which can ensure social security. The result shows that land market is imperfect in underdeveloped areas for following reasons: (1) social security functions of rural land; (2) surplus labor in rural region; (3) low revenue of land; (4) fragmentation management of rural land; (5) high transaction costs. Social security functions of rural land and surplus labor are the vital factors. Therefore, the solutions to increase the rate of transaction of rural land must consider the basic functions and the basic characteristics of the current land system. The authors suggest that (1) improving the social security of the peasant worker and weakening the social security function of the rural land; (2) encouraging to develop the labor-intensive manufacture and service industries to have more rural surplus labor; (3) setting up the relevant rural land agencies and supervisory agencies to reduce transaction costs; (4) implementing proper policies to develop the local market of transaction of rural land.
董国强, 马小勇. 陕西省农村土地流转迟缓的供求影响因素与机制探析[J]. 人文地理, 2010, 25(4): 101-103,142.
DONG Guo-qiang, MA Xiao-yong. A STUDY OF THE MECHANISM AND THE INFLUENCING FACTORS OF THE SLOW DEVELOPMENT OF LAND USING RIGHT TRANSACTION IN SHAANXI PROVINCE. HUMAN GEOGRAPHY, 2010, 25(4): 101-103,142.
