From Reuters:
China’s farmers will be allowed to transfer their land-use rights, Chinese President Hu Jintao said this week, signalling an important shift in the country’s land management system.
China’s rural citizens, who number more than 730 million according to a 2006 census, own the product of their land but not the land itself, and are barred from trading their land-use rights under current laws.
“Farmers will be allowed to transfer land contract and management rights by various means, in accordance with their will,” Hu was quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying during a visit to Anhui province.