A project that aims to revitalize rural China by addressing problems surrounding property rights, governance and the provision of public services has been signed in Beijing between United Nations Development Programme and the Chinese government.

Entitled "Revitalizing Rural China through Land Policy Reform and Innovation in Rural Governance and Public Service Delivery," the 4-year project is designed to propose policy, legislative and institutional reforms to support the Chinese government in its initiative to re-focus on rural areas and build a "new socialist countryside" for the 800 million population living in rural China. This initiative is a joint effort between the UNDP, China's Ministry of Land Resources, China Institute of Reform and Development, and the China International Center for Economic and Technical Exchanges under the Ministry of Commerce.

"Creating a new countryside will require solving a complex set of interrelated and difficult problems," said Khalid Malik, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in China, at the signing ceremony. "Securing rural land rights, stronger bargaining power for farmers and the sufficient compensation for land use have been identified as key to rural reform in China."

He also stressed that adequate and equal provision of public services, improved, effective, and representative local governments and an influential civil society are all goals outlined in the 11th five-year plan. These goals will be instrumental to achieving the Chinese government's vision of a harmonious well-off Xiaokang society and meet the Millennium Development Goals.

Through policy research and pilot in implementation, the US$5 million project aims to clarify rural land property rights and establish clear, equitable and efficient mechanisms to uphold those rights. These methods will further be used to identify obstacles to improving local governance in rural areas, providing public goods and services and protecting farmers' rights. Knowledge sharing, policy debates and dialogues will be used with an aim to spread knowledge of best practices.

Developing rural areas, where economic development has lagged behind that of China's booming cities, has been highlighted as a priority by the Chinese government. The policy recommendations aim to enhance growth, efficiency and equity in rural areas and bridge rural-urban inequalities.

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