64.3m affected by land grab

Land acquisition and property demolition have affected 16 percent of households nationwide, while the percentage of those who were offered job opportunities and urban social insurance after the acquisition or demolition is minimal, according to a report on China's urbanization released Sunday.

The research, conducted by the China Data Center under Tsinghua University, polled 12,540 respondents in 31 provincial regions. The result of the research indicates that 64.3 million households across the country have experienced land acquisition or demolition.

According to statistics from the report, only 3.9 percent of those whose contracted land was acquired by the government have been offered job opportunities. For those whose homestead was acquired and whose properties were demolished, the percentage is 8.5 percent and 1.8 percent respectively.

Disputes caused by disagreement between residents and local governments over compensation for demolishing properties have been frequently seen in media reports, while urbanization has progressed rapidly.

"The data shows how massive the scale of demolition is, which explains why there are so many complicated issues and conflicts. A large part of them relate to disputes over land and property. It also reminds us that we need to be cautious during the process of urbanization," Li Qiang, dean of the School of Social Sciences under Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.

Li noted that policymakers should fully consider people's interests instead of just giving them compensation, adding that employment should be taken into consideration as some farmers may become disadvantaged since they have no other professional skills other than farming.

"Except huge projects, people affected by demolition usually do not enjoy insurance as many depend on local policies. There is no unified standard nationwide and it's difficult to have such a standard," Li said, noting that few obtained urban household registration, or hukou, to be covered by urban social insurance.

The report also shows that younger migrant workers have little intention to return to their home villages. According to the statistics, 49.1 percent of China's migrant workers were born in the 1980s and only 7.3 percent of these people are willing to go back to farming. For migrant workers born in the 1990s, the percentage is as low as 3.8 percent.

In total, 70 percent of China's migrant workers refuse to be farmers again.

When asked whether they would love to reside in cities, 30.5 percent of the migrant workers polled by the center said they have no clue. About 34.7 percent of the people wish to stay and become urban residents, according to the report.

"Only small towns and cities are open for migrant workers transferring their hukou, but they won't choose these places as the opportunity to find a job there is slim," Liu Kaiming, director of the Institute of Contemporary Observation, a Shenzhen-based civil think tank, told the Global Times on Monday.