A new circular the State Council issued on strengthening administration of urban relocation projects marks an effort to crack down on rampant malpractice in this field.

The new regulation is obviously in line with those tough measures the central authorities have already taken to rein in excessive investment growth for a soft landing of the national economy.

Except those major infrastructure and public projects in construction, it calls for an across-the-aboard stop of big relocation projects in areas where disputes are rife.

By emphasizing strict control of the scale of urban relocation programmes, the new regulation published yesterday highlights the central authorities' will to take on those who infringe upon the public's rights in relocation projects.

Land requisition and relocation programmes are among the most controversial issues in this country's accelerating urbanization process.

Massive urban construction provides much of the lift the national economy needs to sustain its rapid growth story.

But due to loopholes in laws concerning relocation, some local governments have changed urban planning at will and developed construction projects irrationally.

Recent media exposure of a typical case at Jiahe, a county in Central China's Hunan Province, highlighted how terribly local officials have abused their power in forcing local residents to make way for a construction project.

Actually, complaints about forced evacuations and demolitions have kept rising in recent years as real estate developers and some local governments found relocation extremely profitable in the absence of a fair compensation mechanism for houseowners.

Since China's urban land belongs to the State and residents own only the land use rights, houseowners are usually put at a disadvantage when negotiating relocation compensation.

The country has an enormous stake in how these problems are addressed, not only just in terms of realizing social equity but also in terms of promoting the rule of law.

Fortunately, the central government has come to grips with the gravity of the problems and is making a stab at the matter.

Fair compensation lies at the core of relocation disputes.

To ensure houseowners' economic interests, compensation funds must be brought in place and granted to residents in time when the relocation is carried out.

It is important to restrict local officials' power to create a level playing field for negotiation between houseowners and developers.

To promote the rule of law in this country, protection of individual legal rights must not be allowed to play second fiddle to the malpractice of local officials.

For that to happen, concrete and concerted efforts are needed to curb forced demolitions and make removal of urban residents a fairer process.

The new circular is a timely step toward plugging existing loopholes in relocation cases.

Such strengthened protection of individuals' legal rights should not merely be a measure of expediency when checking overheated investment tops the central government's agenda. Any oscillation between crackdowns and easing-up will only incur heavy costs on the country.

(China Daily June 16, 2004)