Xiongan starts rural land acquisition for urban construction

Residents in two villages of Xiongan New Area in North China's Hebei province have received their compensation in minutes after signing contracts, marking the start of the expropriation of land for urban construction, according to the area's government.

The government has begun its first round of expropriating rural collective land for use in urban construction since Monday, said a report by Xinhua News Agency.

More than 70 percent of households at two villages in Rongcheng, one of the three counties covered by Xiongan, have signed compensatory contracts on the first day.

To better serve people's interests, villagers whose rural land is expropriated will be compensated with monetary benefits and houses or apartments, as well as more than 10 kinds of subsidies, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Located about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, Xiongan New Area was established about two years ago and this year marks the first period of entering the construction stage after previous comprehensive designing and planning.

Xiao Jinzhu, a 65-year-old resident at Hexi village, said he received compensatory money in his bank account several minutes after he signed the contract, which meant he had agreed to transfer his land and was satisfied with the compensation.

Li Guihua, a resident at another village named Gongzhuang, showed her satisfaction for the government's consideration of villagers' needs.

"All my family's needs, including my grandson's education as well as my son and daughter-in-law's employment, are being supported by the government, so considerate," said Li, adding that she could receive a pension of more than 900 yuan ($130) per month.

The multichannel compensation measures for rural residents can protect their interests; these measures are scientific and reasonable and also lay the foundation for building the new area with high standards, Zhu Daolin, an expert on land issues, was quoted as saying by Xinhua.