This research is an international collaborative project of land policy financed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)。 Its key objectives are to research, analyze and evaluate the following factors since the foundation of the P.R.C: evolution of rural land ownership registration, together with cause, progress, legal basis, procedure and effects of registration and certification on collective ownership of land, which is developed in countryside on the stage. Additionally, the way and method will be suggested in view of the existing problems and situations of China.

The research mainly contains three aspects. Firstly, judgment will be made as to why it is valuable for way and content of current land tenure data collection as for China’s decision-makers, and how to bring into play of its value effect; Secondly, the present situation of land tenure data collection in pilot provinces will be reviewed and evaluated, including the limited condition of database existence and existing and potential mechanisms in data collection etc.; Thirdly, the analysis will be made to the key matters to be considered in improving present situations of land tenure data collection, and the direction will be fixed to further works.

Combined with the ongoing work of registration and certification for collective ownership on land experimented in selected places, a method of field investigations and questionnaires will be adopted。 Then the theoretical analysis and evaluation will be carried out after a statistical summary. The field investigation covered Yongan city, Fujian province, Xinle city, Hebei province and Luojiang county, Sichuan province, situated respectively in the east, middle and west parts of China. The questionnaire was conducted in 31 provincial authorities of land and resources, in which 21 effective ones were returned. Through research, the basic conclusions are as follows: 1.Before reform and opening to the outside world, the features of real property, especially for land, had not been recognized for a long time. The registration of real property rights was considered as an important method of administrative management. The management of real property was distributed in many administrative authorities. Influenced by current managerial system, the real situations of land tenure data cannot be known due to very complex data sources and conflict between data collected by different administrative authorities caused by incompatible statistical requirements. 2.The collective ownership on land and land-use right are lack of market circulation. The value of land assets in the countryside has not yet been reflected. The administrative predisposition represents obviously in the existing data collection and registering purpose. 3.China shall further enhance the building of a system of collective ownership of land in the countryside, clearly define the range and content of the ownership, respect and bring into play property value of collective ownership on land and land-use rights, protect and achieve the rights and interests of farmers land property in order to reduce the increasing income differentials between urban and rural residents. The information system of unified real property registration and perfect land ownership shall be built up to provide the essential safeguard for giving full play of support of land tenure database to decision-making.