On December 23, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the "Notice on the Guidelines for Supporting High-Quality Industrial Development with Natural Resource Elements (2024 Edition)," which clarifies the directions and requirements for encouraging the development and utilization of natural resources such as land, minerals, forests, grasslands, wetlands, and sea areas from the perspectives of resource conservation and intensive utilization, as well as industrial structure adjustment.
According to the document, the guidelines classify projects into three categories: encouraged, restricted, and prohibited. Projects listed in the encouraged category are expected to be prioritized for resource allocation and related procedures, provided they comply with territorial spatial planning and land use control. Restricted projects must meet relevant conditions or standards, while prohibited projects are not allowed to undergo related procedures.
From the detailed rules, encouraged projects include: PV projects that use unused land or agricultural land under the original land classification, provided they avoid farmland, ecological redlines, primary grasslands, and natural forests; large-scale PV base projects located in deserts, Gobi, and arid regions; and PV power generation projects utilizing damaged land in coal mining subsidence areas.
Restricted projects include : PV power generation projects on wetlands such as tidal flats and marshes; offshore PV power generation projects are not allowed to be located outside provincial sea areas. Within provincial sea areas, site selection is generally limited to four types of already developed areas: aquaculture zones, offshore wind farm zones, confirmed thermal discharge zones of power plants, and long-term idle or abandoned salt fields.
Prohibited projects include : new or expanded PV power generation projects occupying permanent basic farmland, basic grasslands, Class I protected forest land, and key state-owned forest areas in north-east China and Inner Mongolia; PV arrays occupying farmland; and PV or wind power projects occupying river channels, lakes, and reservoirs.
For details, see below:
Notice of the Ministry of Natural Resources, National Development and Reform Commission, and National Forestry and Grassland Administration on Issuing the "Guidelines for Supporting High-Quality Industrial Development with Natural Resource Elements (2024 Edition)"
To the natural resource authorities, development and reform commissions, and forestry and grassland administrations of all provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps:
To thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and the second and third plenary sessions of the 20th Central Committee, and to fulfill the State Council's requirements on promoting industrial structure adjustment and resource conservation and intensive utilization, the Ministry of Natural Resources, National Development and Reform Commission, and National Forestry and Grassland Administration have formulated the "Guidelines for Supporting High-Quality Industrial Development with Natural Resource Elements (2024 Edition)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Guidelines") based on the "Guidelines for Industrial Structure Adjustment (2024 Edition)" (Order No. 7 of the National Development and Reform Commission) and relevant national industrial and natural resource development and utilization policies. The Guidelines are hereby issued for your implementation.
1. The provisions of this notice apply to new, expanded, and renovated construction projects and activities involving the development and utilization of natural resources such as land, minerals, forests, grasslands, wetlands, and sea areas.
2. The Guidelines include three categories of matters: encouraged, restricted, and prohibited. Projects listed in the encouraged category are expected to be prioritized for resource allocation and related procedures, provided they comply with territorial spatial planning and land use control. Projects in the restricted category must meet specified conditions or standards to undergo related procedures. Projects in the prohibited category, or those adopting listed technologies, equipment, or scales, are not allowed to undergo related procedures. Projects outside the encouraged, restricted, and prohibited categories that comply with relevant national laws, regulations, and policies are considered permissible and may undergo related procedures in accordance with the law.
3. The increase in construction land must be strictly controlled, and existing land resources should be actively revitalized, with priority given to land conservation. New construction projects should primarily utilize existing construction land, and the occupation of farmland, forest land, grassland, and wetlands for construction must be strictly controlled. Local authorities must strictly follow the requirements of the Guidelines when reviewing land use matters for construction projects before or after approval, verification, or filing. Projects without pre-approval opinions or those failing pre-approval are not allowed to be approved or verified, except in cases where pre-approval is not required under relevant regulations.
4. Local authorities must adhere to the bottom-line principle and strictly rectify issues such as land hoarding and illegal occupation of farmland in the current land market. For various types of land use, such as elderly care real estate, commercial offices, standard factory buildings, and cultural tourism towns, where idle and wasteful use is prominent, authorities should strengthen analysis and judgment of indicators such as land supply, land use structure and timing, development and utilization, and price changes. This will help accurately grasp market expectations, prevent blind investment and low-level repetitive construction from the source, and effectively improve the efficiency of territorial spatial resource utilization.
5. Local authorities should emphasize adaptability and differentiation. Under the premise of complying with the Guidelines, they may formulate local guidelines for supporting high-quality industrial development with natural resource elements based on local conditions, encouraging and supporting the development of advanced production capacity while restricting and eliminating outdated production capacity. This will further enhance the precision and effectiveness of resource allocation. Negative lists (or prohibited and restricted directories) for industrial access in key ecological function zones and major agricultural product production areas should align with the relevant requirements of the Guidelines.
6. Relevant entities and individuals are prohibited from illegally occupying farmland for non-agricultural construction or illegally building houses on farmland. Local authorities must strictly regulate approvals, ensuring that projects comply with national laws and regulations on natural resource protection and utilization, territorial spatial planning, and mandatory standards for national security, environmental protection, energy consumption, quality, and natural resource utilization. Violations of this notice in handling related procedures will result in legal accountability for the relevant departments and responsible individuals.
7. During the implementation of the Guidelines, if the industrial policies and natural resource development and utilization policies issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council provide different provisions for encouraged, restricted, or prohibited projects, those provisions shall prevail. Issues arising during the implementation of the Guidelines will be addressed by the Ministry of Natural Resources, National Development and Reform Commission, and National Forestry and Grassland Administration.
8. The Ministry of Natural Resources, National Development and Reform Commission, and National Forestry and Grassland Administration will revise the Guidelines as needed based on macroeconomic regulation and control, national industrial policies, and natural resource development and utilization policies.
9. This notice takes effect upon issuance. The "Notice on the Implementation of the Restricted Land Use Project Directory (2012 Edition) and the Prohibited Land Use Project Directory (2012 Edition)" (Guotuzi Fa [2012] No. 98) and the "Notice of the General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources on Issuing the Guidelines for the Implementation of Industrial Land Policies (2019 Edition)" (Ziran Zi Ban Fa [2019] No. 31) are simultaneously repealed. In case of inconsistencies between newly issued national policies and this notice or its referenced documents, the new policies shall prevail.
Ministry of Natural Resources, National Development and Reform Commission, National Forestry and Grassland Administration
December 2, 2024
