Opinion | China should allow rural land to be openly bought and sold in the market

The expected launch of land reform is dividing opinions. At a work meeting this month, Minister of Land and Resources Jiang Daming said the central government would limit land supply in cities with more than five million residents. His words ignited a storm.

To be fair, he spoke in the spirit of the third plenum resolution. At a work meeting on urbanisation last month, leaders had made it clear that the focus of urbanisation in the country's three major centres would be on making better use of the land already at their disposal. "Not every town or city needs to grow huge," they stressed.

Now by setting a target of cities with five million or more people, Jiang appears to be extending the scope of planned restrictions. Hence the public reaction.

Whatever the specifics, the government's plan to put existing land to better use is worth noting because it goes to the heart of China's land-related problems. Fully utilising China's stock of land for development will take the country closer to its goal of sustainable urbanisation.

The figures are worrying. China's physical landscape is urbanising faster than its population: from 2000 to 2010, the area of urban development across the nation increased by 64.45 per cent while its urban population grew by 45.9 per cent. Studies also show that the population density in Beijing and Shanghai is far lower than that in other cities such as Tokyo and Seoul.

At the same time, developing farmland remains the focus of officials.