Barriers and solutions to China’s cultivated land protection

In 2008, China’s total area of cultivated land was approximately 121.7 million ha, accounting for 7.8% of the world’s total cultivated land; cultivated land per capita was 0.09 ha, only accounting for 38.2% of the world average. China’s cultivated lands were reduced by 12.31 million ha in the period 1997–2008; that is, a loss of 1.03 million ha per year. Although China implements stringent cultivated land protection policies and in some areas has achieved much success, the rate of reduction of cultivated land through rapid urbanisation, agricultural structure adjustment and ecological restoration has proved uncontrollable. Proposed solutions to China’s cultivated land protection include: 1) learning from the successful experiences of other countries; 2) reforming cultivated land protection measures; and 3) paying more attention to improving the quality of its cultivated lands.