China has been steadily working on land reform for years, and it’s benefited many farmers. In China, urban land is owned by the state and rural land is normally under collective ownership. This can be traced back to the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, and the establishment of socialistic public ownership.

Gradual reforms since the 1980s saw the trading of urban land evolve into a vigorous property market. Land in the countryside has remained largely static. Farmers mostly have use rights, but cannot directly trade or mortgage them.

The new round of reform encourages circulation of land use rights on the open market. This encourages diversified agricultural business models and brings more opportunities.

Farm leasing among villagers is the most popular form of rural land transfer. Land transfers to rural cooperatives and local enterprises have also been growing.