event

Land Use in China's West:

A Discussion on the New Land Use Reforms and Their Implications for China's Western Regions

In October 2008, China announced the adoption of a new rural land reform policy that would allow farmers to subcontract, lease, or exchange their land-use rights. This new policy is aimed at increasing the disposable incomes of rural populations as well as offering better protections against unlawful land grabs.

According to recent official figures, the average per capita income from wages and salaries for rural communities in the Tibet Autonomous Region is among the lowest in the nation, yet the average per capita income from properties is more than double the national average. Given these conditions, what are the implications of the new reforms for Tibetan communities in western China? What do the new reforms mean in practice for rural China in general? A panel of experts from different disciplinary fields will present their past research and discuss their thoughts about the current reforms.

The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, February 5th, 2009, 3-5pm
Trace Foundation, Latse Library
132 Perry Street, Suite 2B (between Greenwich St. and Washington St.)
New York City

Speakers

Chengri Ding, Director, China Land Policy and Urban Management Program, University of Maryland
Andrew Fischer, Lecturer in Population and Social Policy, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, Netherlands
Emily T. Yeh, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Colorado at Boulder

For more information, please send an email to events@trace.org or call (212) 367-7380.