To improve the land reserve system, promote the economical and intensive use and efficient allocation of land, enhance the support and guarantee capacity of construction land, and drive high-quality development, the Ministry of Natural Resources, together with the Ministry of Finance, the People’s Bank of China, and the National Financial Regulatory Administration, has recently issued a newly revised “Land Reserve Management Measures” (hereinafter referred to as the “Measures”).

The “Measures” state that each locality should formulate a three-year rolling plan for land reserves based on national economic and social development plans and territorial spatial plans, reasonably determine the scale of land reserves for the next three years, and make overall arrangements for land resources that can be reserved within three years in terms of total quantity, structure, layout, and timing. Reserve areas should be delimited in conjunction with urban renewal and integrated development projects, with priority given to reserving idle and underutilized land and other existing construction land.

The “Measures” emphasize that reserved land must comply with territorial spatial planning. Land with pollution, cultural relics, mineral deposits, flood risks, geological disaster risks, and other issues must not be included in the land reserve before relevant units complete inspections, assessments, and remediation in accordance with relevant regulations. Land included in the reserve must have clear property rights. The initial registration of state-owned construction land use rights will no longer be processed for reserved land, and real estate mortgage registration will not be allowed.