Draw a "red line"
The construction land area per unit GDP refers to the construction land area occupied per 10,000 yuan of GDP in a certain period (usually one year). The intuitive formula is: occupied area of construction land per unit GDP = construction land area /GDP. As can be seen from the formula, the decline of construction land area per unit GDP puts forward requirements for the level of economic development and the level of land conservation and intensification.
"The decline in the use area of construction land per unit of GDP in the past decade means the intensification of land use and the improvement of efficiency in China, which means that China's economic transformation and upgrading have been fruitful." Yang Haiping, a researcher at the Securities and Futures Research Institute of the Central University of Finance and Economics and general manager of bank of inner mongolia's research and development department, told the Beijing Business Daily today that it is of great significance for China's economic growth to get rid of its dependence on land and land finance, and for the fundamental transformation of economic growth mode and economic development momentum.
Previously, the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" and "Fourteenth Five-Year Plan" both mentioned the use area of construction land per unit GDP. The Outline of the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development clearly requires that during the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan period, the use area of construction land per unit of GDP will decrease by 20%.
The Outline of the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan for Land and Resources issued and implemented by the Ministry of Land and Resources further clearly stated that the total amount of construction land should be effectively controlled during the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan period, and the use area of construction land per unit of GDP should be reduced by 20%, further increasing the potential of existing construction land, improving the standard system of land use control, and constantly popularizing and applying land-saving technologies.
The 14th Five-year Plan for National Economic and Social Development in People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Outline of Long-term Goals in 2035, which was issued on March 1 2026, proposed to strengthen the economical and intensive use of land, increase the disposal of unused and idle land, revitalize inefficient land in cities and towns, support the recycling of abandoned land in industrial and mining areas, improve the supporting policies for comprehensive utilization and three-dimensional development of land, and control the scale of new land.
Establish a mechanism
Yang Haiping believes that behind the decline of construction land use area per unit GDP, China vigorously promotes innovation drive, kinetic energy conversion and structural adjustment with policy combination boxing. Among them, the land policy promotes economic transformation by guiding additional investment, optimizing allocation, resetting and restructuring, and revitalizing the stock, and the regulation effect is remarkable.
A large population and a small population is one of the basic national conditions of China. While adhering to the strictest farmland protection system, China also proposes to adhere to the strictest land-saving system.
Zhuang Shaoqin introduced at the press conference that in the past ten years, China has implemented dual control of the total amount and intensity of construction land, improved the evaluation system of regional and project land conservation, and implemented the mechanism of linking the incremental arrangement of construction land with revitalizing the stock (hereinafter referred to as "increasing storage"). Strictly demarcate the boundaries of urban development and promote the intensive green and high-quality development of cities and towns.
Regarding specific measures, Liu, a member of the party group and chief engineer of the Ministry of Natural Resources, said at the press conference that the first is to strengthen planning control. Compiling and implementing the "multi-regulation-in-one" land spatial planning, optimizing the spatial pattern, coordinating the demand for various industrial land, and scientifically delineating the boundaries of urban development will force the intensive development of cities. The second is strict land-saving evaluation. Strengthen the evaluation of land saving for various construction projects and strictly implement the land quota standards. The third is to strengthen incentives and constraints. We will adopt incentive policies in terms of use control, quantity adjustment and price adjustment. Promote the redevelopment of inefficient urban land and promote the active use of existing land. The fourth is to focus on demonstration and guidance.
From 20 18, the mechanism of "increasing storage and linking" was established. In the past four years, the whole country has digested13.72 million mu of unused land and disposed of 4.36 million mu of idle land. At present, in the total supply of construction land in China, the part that uses the stock accounts for 1/4, and in some places it reaches half.
Transmission mode
The level of economic development is another factor that affects the use area of construction land per unit GDP. For example, during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period, it is proposed that the use area of construction land per unit of GDP will decrease by 20%. When the target reaches the provincial level, the overall level of economic development, growth rate, industrial structure, land use level and other factors predicted by provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities) during the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan" period will be comprehensively considered and reasonably reflected in the target decomposition.
On average, among the provinces (autonomous regions), Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces have the highest reduction targets and need to cut by 22%; The lowest falling targets are Xinjiang and Tibet, which need to fall by 15%, and the overall distribution of falling targets increases from west to east. In Xinjiang and Tibet, where overall economic development is relatively slow, it is a loose index of 15%; The overall floating rate in the east is above 20%, and some areas with relatively rapid economic development in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta are 22%.
In areas with high level of economic development, the land utilization rate is higher, and the use area of construction land per unit GDP decreases faster. Taking Beijing as an example, the Plan for the Protection and Utilization of Land Resources in Beijing during the Tenth Five-Year Plan issued on June 16, 2022 mentioned that during the Thirteenth Five-Year Plan period, the construction land per unit GDP in Beijing decreased from 20 15 to 200 million yuan, a decrease rate of about 36%, exceeding the national requirement of a 20% decrease rate.
Wang Peng, an associate professor at China Renmin University and a researcher at Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, believes that the reasons behind the decline in construction land area per unit GDP are the improvement of overall production efficiency, the reduction of production costs and the gradual improvement of the quality of economic development. "With the continuous adjustment of industrial structure, the dependence of economic development on land is gradually decreasing, but it is increasingly dependent on deep processing and technological innovation, which reflects the vigorous development of high-tech industries and the continuous improvement of industrial added value."
At the same time, Wang Peng also pointed out that under the background of "double carbon" goal, China will practice the concept of green development, and more unit GDP will no longer rely on the consumption of land resources and other related resources, but turn to the road of low carbon and environmental protection, and the use area of construction land per unit GDP will continue to decline.