Experience and lessons from the implementing of the latest Land Certificated Program in rural China

The Chinese central government is determined to finish the latest national Land Certificated Program (LCP) in 2018, but the implementation of LCP lagged far behind the national target in some rural areas. The overall goal of this study is to summarize the experience and lessons of implementing the latest LCP by analyzing its status and determinants. The mixed methods are adopted based on a panel dataset with a nationally representative sample of 100 rural villages in five provinces and two cases. The results show that only 56% of villages have finished the latest LCP due to the planed deadline, and there are temporal and regional disparities in the process of LCP among the sample provinces. The case study and quantitative analysis indicate that the experience of village leader, off-farm employment, and land acquisition have significant effects on the accomplishing of the latest LCP. However, geographical features have no effect because of the adoption of GIS technology in measuring plots. These findings imply that the local management organization, such as village committee, should seek help from former village cadres or stimulate villagers to promote the implementation of LCP. Advanced technology could alleviate the heavy workload of LCP. The communities with lots of off-farm employment labor should be paid more attention when promoting the LCP.