ABSTRACT
The phenomenon of agricultural land conversion is very common all over the world. The process assumes (at least in theory) that the state has the power to acquire private land in the public interest, subject to the payment of compensation (Larbi et al. 2004). However, in practice the compensation standard in terms of property rights transfer is not the same in different countries. For example, in the US, farmers will be compensated according to an open market value at the time of taking (Chen 2004). In France, the taking arbitrage agency decides the compensation standard with reference to other agricultural lands’ market value in the neighbourhood of the expropriated land or the enrolled value of owners when the properties are taxed (ibid.). In China, the revised Land Management Law 1998 states that compensation for state expropriation consists of compensation for the loss of land, resettlement subsidies and compensation for young crops and fixtures. 1 Standard compensation for the loss of land is set at six to ten times the value of the average annual output of the land calculated over the three years prior to expropriation; subsidies to assist the village collectively in relocating the agricultural population are four to six times the value of the average annual output of the land calculated over the three years prior to expropriation. The total amount of land compensation and resettlement subsidies is capped at 30 times the value of the average annual output for the three prior years. Provinces, autonomous regions and provincial-level municipalities stipulate compensation standards for surface fixtures and young crops.
