SPC vows to protect farmland, punish encroachers

China's top court has reiterated the need to severely punish those responsible for the destruction of arable land, making a judicial commitment to protect farmland, ensure food security and safeguard the nation's well-being.

Disclosing four notable land-related cases on Thursday, the Supreme People's Court underscored the importance of cultivated land, urging courts at all levels to crack down on illegal occupation of farmland and unlawful mining.

"Arable land is the lifeblood of food production and serves as the cornerstone of China's sustainable development," the top court said. "We must continuously enforce the strictest protection measures for arable land and intensify efforts to penalize illegal activities that harm land resources."

In one case, two people in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, were sentenced to prison and fined for illegally occupying farmland and dumping about 200,000 cubic meters of construction waste under the pretext of developing a smart agriculture industrial project between December 2020 and October 2021.

The land related to the case included about 10 hectares of arable land. The pair's actions caused severe damage to the topsoil, leaving it largely unsuitable for crop cultivation, according to the Xuanwu District People's Court in Nanjing.

The court sentenced one offender, surnamed Zhu, to four years in prison and fined him 1 million yuan ($140,340). The other, surnamed Su, received a prison term of two years and three months, as well as a fine of 200,000 yuan.

"Such criminal acts of illegally occupying agricultural land under the guise of legality are highly deceptive and covert, often persisting for a long time and causing great harm to society," the top court said.

It said the penalties reflected the judiciary's firm resolve to protect farmland and ensure food security, while serving as a strong deterrent against similar violations.

In another case, an offender surnamed Yu from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region was sentenced to three years and two months in prison and fined 50,000 yuan for illegal mining.

From the beginning of 2021 to March 2023, Yu illegally excavated more than 10,000 cubic meters of peat soil for profit and filled the pits with other materials, damaging over 2 hectares of permanent basic farmland, the local court said.

"Peat soil is an important mineral resource in China with both strategic significance and economic value," the top court said. "Driven by profit, some people have illegally excavated and sold the soil, which not only damages land resources and grain production, but also seriously threatens ecological security and the sustainable development of agriculture."

The court said Yu's conviction for illegal mining served as an effective warning against similar activities and demonstrated the judiciary's strong stance on upholding the protection of black soil resources.

China has in recent years improved the handling of civil disputes involving farmland contracting, transfer and management. Legislative efforts have also advanced with the enactment of the Black Soil Protection Law and revisions to the Food Security Law.