Land reclaimation unleashes a new life

According to the regulations, any responsible party who fails to reclaim damaged land or whose reclaimed land does not meet standards must pay a land reclamation fee to land and resources authorities, who will then organize reclamation on behalf of the responsible party.

The regulations also state that if a responsible party fails to pay the land reclamation fee promptly, it will be fined an amount ranging between one to two times the required land reclamation fee. Mining companies violating the rules will also have their mining licenses revoked.

The regulations further stipulate that responsible parties must first pay a deposit equivalent to the estimated amount of the land reclamation fee one month in advance of any project's launch.

Article 16 of the implementation measures says that the responsible party should open a special bank account for this purpose with approval from relevant county-level land and resources authorities and then put it under the supervision of those authorities.

As a reward, however, responsible parties who have restored damaged farmland to their original condition can reclaim the tax they paid for farmland use, according to the regulations.

In addition to tax incentives, some responsible parties have been motivated to rehabilitate the land by profit from reclaimed land.

Yangquan city in North China's Shanxi province has a large quantity of land damaged by mining activities. Since 2008, a local company has reclaimed 200 hectares of the land for farming purpose. Now, the company has more than 200 vegetable greenhouses, which produce more than 1,000 tons of pollution-free fresh vegetables.