Article 19 When land is to be used for construction projects such as railways， highways or oil or water supply pipelines， an application for approval， depending on the construction project's overall plans， shall be submitted in one lump， but procedures for expropriating and transferring land may be done in stages. In the case of a construction project which is to proceed in stages， applications for approval and procedures for expropriating and transferring land may be done in stages in accordance with the work schedule determined in the design assignment.

Article 20 If emergency or disaster relief measures necessitate the urgent use of land， the land may be used first， but， after the incident， supplementary procedures for the temporary use of land or procedures for the expropriation and transfer of land must be carried out pursuant to regulations.

Article 21 “Other land with an area of more than 2，000 mu” as mentioned in paragraph 1 of Article 25 of the Land Administration Law shall include construction projects which simultaneously require the expropriation of less than 1，000 mu of cultivated land， together with other land in excess of 1，000 mu， amounting to a total land area of more than 2，000 mu.

“Other land with an area of less than ten mu” as mentioned in paragraph 2 of Article 25 of the Land Administration Law shall include construction projects which simultaneously require the expropriation of less than 3 mu of cultivated land， together with other land of less than 10 mu， amounting to a total land area of more than 3 mu and less than 10 mu.

Article 22 If a land user's right to use state-owned land is withdrawn in accordance with the provisions of Article 19 of the Land Administration Law， the local people's government at county level or above may decide to issue the land to an agricultural collective economic entity to cultivate. During the cultivation period， the agricultural collective economic entity shall be prohibited from building any permanent structures or planting perennial crops on the land and shall be required to return the land on schedule pursuant to state construction requirements. If there are young crops on the land at the time of its return， the relevant construction unit shall pay compensation.

Article 23 If construction requirements make it necessary for a construction unit to temporarily expropriate additional land outside its approved land use limits， an application for temporary use of land shall be submitted to the land administration department of the local people's government at county level and the details reported to the people's government at the same level for approval. If temporary use of additional land is required within an urban planning district， a set area application shall be submitted first to the administrative authority in charge of urban planning and， subject to examination and approval， an application for temporary use of land shall be submitted to the land administration department.

If collectively owned land is required for temporary use， compensation shall be paid in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1 of Article 33 of the Land Administration Law.

Chapter V Land for Township（Town） and Village Construction

Article 24 There shall be strict control over the use of agricultural land for township（town） and village construction. The overfilling of control quotas for the use of land in township（town） and village construction issued by local people's governments at county level or above shall be prohibited.

Article 25 When land is required for rural residential buildings， a land use application shall be submitted first to the village agricultural collective economic entity or villagers' committee and， subject to it being discussed and approved by the villagers' representative meeting or general meeting， the application shall be submitted to the people's government for approval. The use of cultivated land shall be subject to approval by the county level people's government， following its examination and approval by the township level people's government and land administration department of the county level people's government. The use of existing residential building sites， empty space within villages and other land shall be subject to approval by the township level people's government.

Article 26 If use of collectively owned land is required for constructing residential buildings for city or town residents with non-agricultural resident registration， a land use application shall， after its approval by the applicant's working unit or residents' committee， be submitted to the village agricultural collective economic entity， villagers' committee or township（town） peasant collective economic entity in the locality of the land. If the land required for use belongs to a village peasant collective， subject to the land use application being discussed and approved by the villagers' representative meeting or general meeting and its examination and approval by the township（town） people's government， it shall be submitted to the county level people's government for approval. If the land required for use belongs to at ownership（town） peasant collective， subject to the land use application being discussed and approved by the township（town） peasant collective economic entity and its examination and approval by the township（town） people's government， it shall be submitted to the county level people's government for approval.

Article 27 When workers， ex-servicemen or retired cadres returning to their original villages or overseas Chinese， Hong Kong， Macao or Taiwan compatriots returning to settle in their family villages require the use of collectively owned land to construct residential building， matters shall be handled pursuant to the provisions of Article 38 of the Land Administration Law and Article 25 of these Regulations.

Article 28 If land is required to construct a rural market in accordance with township（town） or village construction plans， matters shall be handled pursuant to the provisions of Article 40 of the Land Administration Law.

Article 29 Non-agricultural production and operation activities by Lease holding farm households and rural individual business shall use their original residential sites. If there is a genuine need for the additional use of collectively owned land， approval documents from the relevant authorities shall be submitted， together with a land use application， to the village peasant collective economic entity， villagers' committee or township（town） peasant collective economic entity in the locality of the land and， subject to the application being discussed and approved by the villagers' representative meeting or the township（town） peasant collective economic entity， and its examination and approval by the township（town） people's government， it shall be submitted to the local people's government at county level or above for approval， pursuant to the approval jurisdiction stipulated by the relevant province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government.

Chapter VI Legal Liability

Article 30 Pursuant to the provisions of Articles 43 and 44 of the Land Administration Law， in addition to ordering a violator to return illegally occupied land and stipulating a limited period within which structures and other installations newly erected on the land are to be demolished or confiscated， a fine shall（may） also be imposed. The standards for such a fine shall be up to 15 yuan for each square meter of illegally occupied land.

Article 31 Pursuant to the provisions of Article 47 of the Land Administration Law， in addition to confiscating illegal proceeds from a violator and stipulating a limited period within which structures and other installations newly erected on land purchased， sold or assigned by illegal means are to be demolished or confiscated， a fine may also be imposed. The standards for such a fine shall be up to 50% of the illegal proceeds involved.

Article 32 Pursuant to the provisions of Article 49 of the Land Administration Law， in addition to ordering a violator to return funds illegally seized， a fine may also be imposed. The standards for such a fine shall be up to 30% of the funds illegally seized.

Article 33 Pursuant to the provisions of Article 50 of the Land Administration Law， in addition to ordering a violator to return the land， a fine shall also be imposed. The standards for such a fine shall be up to 5 yuan for each square meter of illegally used land.

Article 34 Pursuant to the provisions of Article 51 of the Land Administration Law， if serious damage is caused to the cultivation conditions of soil， in addition to ordering a violator to rectify the situation within a limited period， a fine may also be imposed. The standards for such a fine shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of legislation on the protection of cultivated land. If soil desertification or salinization is caused as the result of land development， in addition to ordering a violator to rectify the situation within a limited period， a fine may also be imposed. The standards for such a fine shall be determined in accordance with standards stipulated by the people's government of the relevant province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government. If soil erosion is caused as the result of land development， in addition to ordering a violator to rectify the situation within a limited period， a fine may also be imposed. The standards for such a fine shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of legislation on water and soil conservation.

Article 35 Fines must be paid within the stipulated period. In the event of failure to pay on schedule， a late payment fine of 0.3% of the fine shall be collected for each day in arrears.

Penalty fines and late payment fines shall be handed over to the state treasury in accordance with relevant state regulations.

Article 36 If land is occupied illegally without approval or by gaining approval fraudulently through such means as leaving arable land lie fallow， in order to construct residential buildings or to undertake other construction projects， a limited period shall be stipulated within which buildings and other facilities newly erected on the illegally occupied land must be demolished or confiscated and the return of the illegally occupied land shall be ordered.

If a unit or individual ordered to demolish newly erected buildings and other facilities within limited period pursuant to the law， continues construction， the penalty issuing authority shall have the right to seal up and confiscate equipment and building materials which continue to be used.

Article 37 In the event of false reporting， concealing the truth in a report， refusing to submit a report or repeatedly delaying submission of a report， as well as falsifying or distorting statistical information in relation to land， penalty shall be imposed in accordance with the provisions of Article 25 of the Statistics Law of the People's Republic of China and Article 31 of the Rules for Implementation of the Statistics Law of the People's Republic of China.

Article 38 If a land ownership or land use right infringing party fails to initiate legal proceedings or to fulfill the penalty decision within the stipulated period after a penalty decision made by the land administration department of the local people's government at county level or above pursuant to the provisions of Article 53 of the Land Administration Law， the infringed party may apply to the people's court for enforcement.

Chapter VII Supplementary Provisions

Article 39 The State Land Administration shall be responsible for interpreting these Regulations.

Article 40 These Regulations shall enter into force on February 1， 1991