System Of Compensated Transfer Of Mining Rights

Mineral resources are the basic essential material in the survival and development of any human society. That provides a nation with sustainable economic growth. The country's mineral resources belong to the country and the State Council exercises state ownership over the resources。This ownership of surface and underground mineral resources will not be altered by any changes in the ownership of the land or the land's usage。Mining rights issued by the State are considered as usufructuary rights under the "Property Law of The People's Republic of China", thereby putting into practice the foundational theory of a system of compensation in acquiring mining rights.There are several ways of transferring mining rights. They include applications for approval, bidding, auction, listing, transfer agreement and through circulation. The system of transferring mining rights has undergone several changes; from a system of non-compensation to a system of compensation, from a non-competitive approach to one of market competition, from prohibiting circulation to allowing circulation. In applying the socialist market economy theory to the current economic situation, the transfer of mining rights should be strictly administrated. Bidding and auction should be the primary approach used, with transfer agreements complementing it. In recent years, the State Council, the Ministry of Land Resources and other related departments have drawn up a series of measures in an attempt to enforce compensation for the use of mineral resources, to perfect the system of compensation in transferring mining rights, as well as to set in place a mechanism to distribute resources in a healthy market. However, we should not ignore issues arising from the two-track system (a non-compensation system and a system of compensation) within the current mining rights compensation system as well as issues arising from tax reforms. In approaching these problems, we take the opportunity presented in "The People's Republic of China Mineral Resources Law" Amendment to learn from the management experiences of foreign mining nations. Mining rights should be legalized as usufructual, with previous mining rights that do not compensate should be removed and made into ones that compensates. Fees charged for mining rights and mineral resources compensation rates should be raised accordingly, hence establishing a dynamic adjusting mechanism. Mining rights assessment efforts must step up and be improved. Cancel resource taxes. In this way, the system of compensation in transferring mining rights will be perfected.