Two Departments Jointly Release New "Factor Guarantee" Policy - How Do 13 Policy Measures Support High-Quality Development Across All Sectors?

How can AI and new land supply models promote urban transformation?

CNR Beijing, March 16 — (Reporter Wang Zehua) According to China Voice of the China National Radio and Television, there have been recent claims that “no new land will be allocated for commercial housing in the future.” Over the past few days, those paying attention to the real estate market have seen such so-called “policy interpretations,” which are said to originate from the recent issuance of “Document No. 38” by two departments. These interpretations mainly stem from a sentence in the document: “Newly added construction land will prioritize major project development and public welfare projects, and, in principle, will not be used for commercial real estate development.”

In fact, this interpretation is incorrect. It not only “sees only the trees, not the forest,” but also misunderstands the relationship between newly added construction land and land for real estate. On March 16, the Ministry of Natural Resources held a press conference to clarify this document, officially known as the “Notice on Further Improving Natural Resources Element Guarantee” (Natural Resources Development [2026] No. 38, referred to as “Document No. 38”). The document supports high-quality development across various fields through 13 policy measures, which are full of substantive content. What exactly does the much-discussed “Document No. 38” say?

At the end of February, a land parcel located north of Machang Land in Huangpu Avenue South, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, was successfully auctioned, attracting widespread attention. After 243 rounds of fierce bidding lasting nearly nine hours, the final transaction price was 23.6 billion yuan, with a premium rate exceeding 26%. Li Yujia, chief researcher at Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center, observed that the reason for this was that it was the most core, largest, and most diverse land parcel Guangzhou had sold in years. Its value lies not only in its location but also in its scarcity, planning, and the overlay of urban functions.

Li Yujia said: “At the end of last year, Guangzhou released the master plan for this land parcel, which is designated as a ‘super urban green corridor + public cultural and sports center + luxury consumption hub,’ forming a functional layout of ‘North Business, South Office, West Cultural, East Residence.’ This land has been underutilized for many years, and now that it has been revitalized, the market response has been so strong. This shows how important it is to have better supporting facilities and more central locations. Over the past decade or so, many cities have supplied large amounts of land for real estate development. Many of these parcels remain undeveloped or are underutilized. The restriction on using newly added construction land for commercial real estate development is essentially aimed at revitalizing existing stock land, activating better-supported, more central parcels for consumers.”

Li Yujia explained that the restriction on using newly added construction land for commercial real estate development comes from the recent issuance of the “Notice on Further Improving Natural Resources Element Guarantee” by the Ministry of Natural Resources and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (Natural Resources Development [2026] No. 38). Some online bloggers have concluded that the country will “no longer add land for commercial housing,” but this is a complete misinterpretation. During the press conference on March 16, Kong Weidong, director of the Department of Natural Resources Development and Utilization, clarified that urban construction land includes both newly added land formed through expropriation and conversion, as well as stock land revitalized through old city renovation, re-development of low-efficiency land, and land recovered or acquired. Land used for commercial housing mainly comes from existing stock land.

Kong Weidong said: “Land supply is an important part of the stable and healthy development of the real estate market. Based on the new circumstances where the supply and demand of the real estate market have undergone major changes, the document clearly states that, in principle, newly added construction land will not be used for commercial real estate development. This does not mean ‘no land will be supplied for real estate,’ but emphasizes making good use of stock resources, ‘precise and high-quality supply,’ and implementing city-specific policies to control the pace and timing of land supply. Priority will be given to areas with excellent location and complete supporting facilities, to promote enterprises to ‘secure land and build good houses,’ continuously improve urban functions, and enhance residents’ quality of life. For example, some cities recently transformed idle stock land into high-quality, livable, and business-friendly parcels, becoming highly sought-after in the land market.”

More importantly, the notice innovatively proposes a “stock control, increment restriction” land supply model—each province (region, city) should establish and improve mechanisms linking the activation of stock land with the supply of new land. The annual new urban and rural construction land should, in principle, not exceed the area of stock land revitalized. Kong Weidong said this measure effectively aligns with the national goal of “optimizing increment and revitalizing stock,” balancing stock and new land supply as a key tool for promoting urban renewal and high-quality development, and creating better living environments and increasing people’s well-being.

Kong Weidong believes: “Currently, China’s urbanization is shifting from rapid growth to stable development, moving from large-scale expansion to quality improvement of existing stock. Every inch of land should be used wisely. Except for projects related to energy, transportation, water conservancy, and other specialized sites, the annual new construction land should not exceed the area of revitalized stock land. Simply put, ‘revitalize one acre to add one acre.’ Through good coordination of stock and new land, we can prevent disorderly urban sprawl and ‘urban pancake’ development, and promote a shift from relying on new land to revitalizing existing space.”

In addition to coordinating stock and new land, and promoting connotative development, the notice also supports emerging marine industries such as yachting and sea fishing. Xu Guodong, director of the Department of Marine and Island Management, explained that as residents’ consumption levels rise, leisure activities like yachting and sea fishing are developing rapidly with great consumer potential. To address the objective issues of few yacht docks and berths in coastal cities, and to truly make cruising and sea fishing fashionable cultural tourism activities, the notice actively responds to the need to strengthen infrastructure such as public docks and berths.

Xu Guodong said: “We need to ensure projects have reasonable land, sea, island, and coastline use, and support local governments in optimizing infrastructure layout for yachting and sea fishing based on land and space planning. We are also streamlining procedures and requirements for applications. To make yacht docking as convenient as parking, we propose supporting coastal areas to explore establishing approval, transfer, registration, and trading systems for yacht docks based on berths—allowing ‘easy docking and stable mooring.’ Promoting yachting and sea fishing aligns with people’s desire for a better life and will help develop marine cultural tourism into a key growth point during the 14th Five-Year Plan period. We look forward to a future where cruising, yachting, sea fishing, and seaside adventures become part of everyday life for thousands of families.”

Activities such as forest and grassland recreation, camping, and science education have become increasingly popular in recent years. Zhang Min, deputy director of the Forest Resources Management Department of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, explained that the notice fully considers and supports the land needs of these green, people-benefiting industries, promoting shared development of ecological beauty and quality of life.

Zhang Min said: “While ensuring major projects related to forestry and grassland elements, the notice clarifies that the development of small-scale, scattered facilities for forest and grassland recreation, camping, and science education can be integrated with forestry and grassland infrastructure construction, promoting the multifunctional use of forest and grassland. The government work report this year also emphasizes ‘actively developing outdoor sports’ and ‘implementing quality improvement and benefit actions for service consumption.’ We will guide local governments to make full use of forestry and grassland policies, support the integration of agriculture, culture, and tourism, and better meet people’s needs for nature, leisure, and recreation—turning ‘green mountains and clear waters at the doorstep’ into tangible, accessible, and beneficial public welfare.”

Furthermore, focusing on leading new productive forces, building a modern infrastructure system, promoting urban-rural integration, ensuring and improving people’s livelihoods, advancing green and low-carbon transformation, and safeguarding key areas, the “14th Five-Year Plan” outline proposes 109 major projects across six areas. Many of these involve new spatial demands. Liu Yan, director of the Department of Land and Space Use Regulation of the Ministry of Natural Resources, stated that to further improve the efficiency of natural resource allocation, the notice proposes establishing and improving linked approval mechanisms for land, sea, forest, and grassland use, ensuring major projects can be implemented early, start early, and produce results quickly.

Liu Yan said: “From the perspective of project builders, the content of the notice is very useful for reducing costs, improving efficiency, and enhancing services. The pre-approval and preliminary land use projects within the department’s authority will be entrusted to provincial natural resources authorities for handling, with the department strengthening supervision through a ‘one map’ approach. The integrated approval process for land, forest, grassland, and sea use will be implemented through information technology, transforming sequential departmental approvals into parallel ones, reducing the number of departments enterprises and the public need to visit. By streamlining approval levels, increasing efficiency, reducing procedures and materials, the time costs for enterprises and the public will decrease. Measures like ‘multi-party approval’ and canceling land expropriation plans for large-scale development directly lower land costs.”

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee proposed “promoting efficient allocation of various factors and resources.” Natural resources are the foundation of development and people’s livelihoods. Supporting high-quality economic and social development and improving people’s lives depend on the support and guarantee of natural resource elements. Liu Yan said that this new notice, which covers optimizing land use planning, improving natural resource allocation efficiency, safeguarding mineral resource development, coordinating stock and new land for connotative growth, and rationally utilizing space across land and sea, includes 13 policy measures across five areas. It not only addresses difficulties and bottlenecks in local work but also serves as a “compass” for better handling specific issues and a “blueprint” for element guarantees supporting high-quality economic and social development.

Liu Yan concluded: “The notice has three main features: First, it emphasizes the coordinating role of land space planning; second, it highlights connotative, high-quality development, not just speed and efficiency, but also focusing on quality improvement through resource conservation and intensive use, mainly using stock rather than expanding; third, it underscores integrated management of natural resources and land space through a unified ‘one map’ approach. As the ‘14th Five-Year Plan’ begins, the purpose of this notice is to use more scientific and rational planning, more efficient and coordinated management, and more practical measures aligned with economic and social development laws—solving real problems and truly managing natural resources well, safeguarding a beautiful China, and ensuring a good start and steady progress for the ‘14th Five-Year Plan.’”