China will take comprehensive land consolidation as the starting point, promote rural land system reform, promote equal exchange and two-way flow of urban and rural factors, and serve the integrated development of urban and rural areas. Wang Lei, Director of the Ecological Restoration Department of the Ministry of Natural Resources, said at a regular press conference on the 14th that in order to implement the decision and deployment of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on improving the system and mechanism for urban-rural integrated development and deepening land system reform, the Ministry of Natural Resources will further promote comprehensive land consolidation across the country, promote equal exchange and two-way flow of urban and rural factors, optimize the spatial layout of rural land, improve the rural ecological environment and farmers' production and living conditions, and promote the integrated development of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in rural areas and urban-rural integration. It is reported that land consolidation has always been an important platform and lever for the iterative upgrading of the "Ten Million Project", which can systematically solve the problems of "where money comes from, where people go, and where land comes from". In the past five years, the Ministry of Natural Resources has launched pilot projects for comprehensive land consolidation across the country. As of the end of 2023, a total of 448.8 billion yuan has been invested in 1304 pilot projects nationwide, completing a comprehensive consolidation scale of 3.78 million mu, adding 470000 mu of arable land, and reducing construction land by 120000 mu, forming a series of valuable experiences that can be promoted and replicated. Through "protecting the agricultural texture, retaining the rural charm and nostalgia; releasing development space, assisting rural revitalization; restoring ecological foundation, improving living environment; deepening institutional reform, sharing land dividends", land consolidation has become an important platform for optimizing rural spatial layout and serving comprehensive rural revitalization. Wang Lei said that comprehensive land consolidation is a powerful lever for rural land system reform and an important measure to implement the relevant reform arrangements of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. It has strong policy implications, wide coverage, and high social attention. In accordance with the requirements of the "Opinions of the Ministry of Natural Resources on Learning and Applying the Experience of the 'Ten Million Project' to Deepen the Comprehensive Land Consolidation Work in the Whole Area", a "comprehensive" mechanism for safeguarding rights and interests should be established, and the basic rural management system should be adhered to unwaveringly, respecting the current situation of collective land ownership, land contracting and management rights, and land management rights. We should stand firmly on the position of the people, respect their will, safeguard their rights and interests, accept the supervision of the people, make good use of the villagers' decision-making mechanism, and resolutely prevent the minority from having the the final say and the majority from being "represented". It is not allowed to merge and relocate the entire village against the will of the villagers. It is strictly prohibited to carry out large-scale demolition and construction, force or indirectly force farmers to withdraw from their homesteads against the will of the masses, and it is not allowed to force farmers to "go upstairs". (New Society)