Beijing to spend 18bn yuan to protect farmers' land rights

The mainland is going to spend 18 billion yuan (HK$22.4 billion) identifying and registering the contractual rights of farmland in the countryside over the next five years amid concern too much arable land is being appropriated as an increasing number of farmers move to towns and cities.

Local governments should finish clarifying land tenure in rural areas and issue certificates to farmers within five years, the central government said in its first policy document of the year, published on Thursday.