· Document Number：No. 33 [2008] of the State Council

· Area of Law： Land

· Level of Authority： Regulatory Documents of the State Council

· Date issued：10-06-2008

· Effective Date：10-06-2008

· Issuing Authority： State Council

· Status： Effective

Notice of the State Council on Issuing the Outline of the National Overall Planning on Land Use (2006 - 2020)
（No. 37 [2008] of the State Council）
The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, all ministries and commissions of the State Council and all institutions directly under the State Council:
The Outline of the National Overall Planning on Land Use (2006 - 2020) (hereinafter referred to as the “Outline”) made by the Ministry of Land and Resources together with the relevant departments has been approved by the State Council and is hereby issued to you for your earnest compliance and implementation.
Now and during a certain future period, the industrialization and urbanization in China are and will be still in the stage of rapid development. The conflict between demand and supply of construction land will be more obvious, it is increasingly urgent to protect farmland especially arable land, and we are confronted with a heavy task of making overall planning on land use. To realize the grand goal of building a well-off society, we must start from the national actualities of China, follow the scientific view of development, stick to the fundamental guidelines of protecting arable land and using land in an economic and intensive way, make overall planning on land use and socio-economic development, and continue improving the power of land resources to guarantee the comprehensive, coordinated and sustainable development of economy and society.
The overall planning on land use is a programmatic document guiding land administration, and is an important basis for the macro-control over land, the control over land uses and the urban and rural construction planning. The people's governments of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall, according to the requirements of the Land Administration Law of the People's Republic of China, scientifically break down and implement at each level the major indicators on land use determined in the Outline, and organize and complete as soon as possible the work on amending and making the local overall planning on land use at all levels, which shall be submitted for approval under the prescribed procedures. The major land use indicators and land use arrangements in the local overall land use planning at each level shall be subject to the overall land use planning at the next higher level. The relevant departmental and industrial planning must also conform to the scale and overall arrangements on land use determined in the overall planning on land use. We need to reinforce the role of the overall planning on land use in the overall control, strictly observe the overall planning on land use, strictly examine the land use scale and standards in the various kinds of construction planning, adjust and modify those failing to meet the overall planning on land use in a timely manner, assess and reduce land use scale, and adjust the land use arrangements.
All regions and all relevant departments shall tangibly strengthen organization and leadership, accentuate coordination and cooperation and earnestly put into effect all tasks and measures mentioned in the Outline so as to ensure the smooth implementation of the overall planning on land use and the realization of the planning goals. The chief persons in charge of the local people's governments at all levels shall be generally responsible for the implementation of the overall planning and annual plan on land use within their respective administrative regions, strictly implement the accountability system for the target of protecting arable land, and ensure that the minimum quantity of arable land and the area of protected basic farmland determined in the Outline are not dwindling and the land quality is improved.
State Council of the People's Republic of China
October 6, 2008