Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, has underlined efforts to deepen the reform of the rural land system in the new era, prioritizing protection of farmers' rights and interests.

Xi instructed that the reform of the rural land system should be advanced in the new era and the management of land contract rights be improved.

Under China's household contract responsibility system, all rural land is owned by rural collectives, which allocate contract rights for parcels of farmland to eligible households. The tenure of contract rights was 15 years in the 1980s and renewed for 30 years in 1998. 

President Xi reiterated that the current round of contracts will be extended for another 30 years upon expiration, saying the country will ensure rural land contracting is "stable and unchanged on a long-term basis." 

Starting in 2014, the country began piloting a reform to separate farmland ownership rights, contract rights and management rights. The reform allows farmers to retain the contract rights over their allotted land and only transfer the management rights if they choose to lease the land to others, mortgage it to banks or invest it in a cooperative in exchange of shares.

The Chinese president pointed out that the work to determine, register and certify contracted rural land can protect the land contract rights of farmers so as to provide peace of mind for farmers. 

Xi called for efforts to guarantee the interests of farmers, to ensure that the rights of farmers to contract land of collective ownership in accordance with the law remain unchanged.

Xi also highlighted efforts to boost rural vitalization. He said the effective form of farmland ownership rights, contract rights and management rights should be diversified.

"We should promote the optimal allocation of rural land resources, actively cultivate new types of agricultural business entities, develop and expand agricultural social service organizations and encourage and support farmers to take the path of development that integrates modern agriculture," Xi added.

In a separate instruction, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the work to determine, register and certify contracted rural land rights is an important measure to consolidate and improve the basic rural operation system, calling for efforts to protect farmers' lawful rights and interests. 

A teleconference on the work to determine, register and certify contracted rural land rights across China was held in Beijing on Monday.