Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 30th Title: It concerns the interests of the vast majority of farmers, and the Rural Collective Economic Organization Law will come into effect on May 1

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Gu Yiping and Hu Lu

　　Are you still a member of the collective economic organization of the village when you marry into another village? What rights do members of the collective economic organization enjoy? What ways are there to develop a new rural collective economy...

　　The "Rural Collective Economic Organization Law of the People's Republic of China" will come into effect on May 1, 2025. These issues of common concern to the farmers will be further clarified in this law.

　　Opening this law, the general provisions state that in order to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of rural collective economic organizations and their members, standardize rural collective economic organizations and their operation and management, promote the high-quality development of the new rural collective economy, consolidate and improve the basic rural management system and the basic socialist economic system, promote the comprehensive revitalization of rural areas, accelerate the construction of an agricultural power, and promote common prosperity, this Law is formulated in accordance with the Constitution.

　　The Rural Collective Economic Organization Law has 8 chapters and 67 articles. It clearly stipulates that rural collective economic organizations refer to regional economic organizations that are based on collective ownership of land, collectively exercise ownership on behalf of members in accordance with the law, implement family contract management as the basis, and combine a two-tier management system, including township-level rural collective economic organizations, village-level rural collective economic organizations, and group-level rural collective economic organizations.

　　The Rural Collective Economic Organization Law clearly states that rural collective economic organizations can contribute funds to establish or participate in the establishment of market entities such as companies, farmers' professional cooperatives in accordance with the law, and bear responsibility for the debts of market entities they set up or participate in the establishment based on the limit of their capital contribution; the state promotes the development of rural collective economic organizations and strengthens the new rural collective economy through financial, taxation, finance, land, talent and industrial policies and other support measures.

　　Industry insiders believe that this will help all localities and departments strengthen policy supply, promote the gathering of various factors into rural collective economic organizations, and create a better policy environment for rural collective economic organizations to develop a new type of rural collective economy, thereby gradually narrowing the urban-rural gap and promoting common prosperity between urban and rural areas.

　　Regarding the definition of members that are generally concerned by the outside world, the Rural Collective Economic Organization Law clearly states that members of rural collective economic organizations do not lose their membership status due to schooling, service, work, business, divorce, widowhood, and sentences. If a member of a rural collective economic organization gets married and has not obtained the status of a member of other rural collective economic organizations, the original rural collective economic organization shall not cancel its membership.

　　The law also specifically stipulates that women enjoy equal rights with men and shall not infringe on the grounds that women are unmarried, married, divorced, widowed, and have no male households.

　　Contract rural land contracted by rural collective economic organizations in accordance with the law, apply for the right to use homesteads in accordance with the law, and participate in the distribution of collective income... The Rural Collective Economic Organization Law clarifies the rights enjoyed by members of rural collective economic organizations. At the same time, the law also stipulates that members of rural collective economic organizations must fulfill their obligations to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of rural collective economic organizations, rationally utilize and protect collective land and other resources, as well as participate in and support the production, operation and management activities of rural collective economic organizations.

　　In addition, the law clearly stipulates that collective property is collectively owned by members of rural collective economic organizations in accordance with the law, and the rural collective economic organizations shall exercise ownership on behalf of members in accordance with the law, and shall not be divided into individual members.

　　Zhou Xiangyang, an associate researcher at the Institute of Agricultural Economics and Development, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, said that this will promote the construction of a rural collective property rights system with clear ownership, complete power, smooth transfer and strict protection, which will help enable the broad masses of farmers to better share the results of reform and promote common prosperity.

　　"The implementation of the Rural Collective Economic Organization Law marks that the development of my country's rural collective economy has entered a more sound track of rule of law." A relevant person in charge of the National People's Congress Agriculture and Rural Committee said that in the next step, we will urge, support and assist relevant departments of the State Council and local people's congresses to formulate and revise relevant normative documents, do a solid job in implementing the law, and promote all sectors of society, especially the vast number of rural cadres and the masses to accurately understand and grasp the relevant legal provisions, give full play to the role of rural collective economic organizations, and realize, safeguard and develop the fundamental interests of the vast number of farmers.

[Editor in charge: Wang Mengmeng]