According to reports, Linze County in Zhangye City, Gansu Province, one of China's largest corn seed production bases, has developed a modern industrial chain integrating R&D, production, processing, and sales. A report on June 13th indicated that several villagers have alleged that during the promotion of farmland construction projects, local authorities forcibly collected an annual construction fee of 200 yuan per mu from corn seed farmers, with deductions set to continue for 15 consecutive years.
Following the report's broadcast, the Gansu Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs immediately dispatched a working group to the area to verify the claims and guide local corrective actions. Senior officials from the Zhangye Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision have also been assigned to conduct a higher-level investigation in Linze County to oversee the rectification process. Currently, Zhangye City has established a dedicated task force to conduct on-site investigations, fully understand the situation, and handle the matter appropriately according to laws and regulations.
Farmers in four villages were charged a construction fee of 200 yuan per mu for 15 years. In the fields of Sanyi Village, Pingchuan Town, Linze County, a villager named Li Fuqiang (pseudonym) reported that the county conducted land leveling in the village in 2021 and began collecting construction fees from farmers in 2022, scheduled to last for 15 years. The first year's fee was 100 yuan per mu, followed by 200 yuan per mu in subsequent years.
Li Fuqiang stated that when the village's farmland was initially leveled, town and village authorities clearly stated it was a national investment project and farmers would not bear any costs. However, after the land was leveled, the situation changed. Multiple villagers from Sanyi Village reported that in recent years, the town and village have been deducting this fee when distributing corn seed payments.
Multiple deduction records from Sanyi Village obtained by reporters show the deduction item for 2022 was listed as "High-standard Farmland Project Construction Deduction: 100 yuan/mu"; for 2023, it was "High-standard Farmland Deduction: 200 yuan/mu"; and for 2024 and 2025, it was "High-standard Farmland Principal and Interest Repayment: 200 yuan/mu."
Investigations revealed that deductions also occurred in Pingchuan Town's San'er Village, Pingchuan Village, and Luwan Village, all at 200 yuan per mu per year for 15 years. Several Luwan Village villagers indicated that all eight villager groups in the village had this money deducted under the heading of "Land Leveling Construction Fee."
Villager Du Shuxue (pseudonym), who farms 7 mu of corn seed land, has 1,400 yuan deducted from his annual seed payment. "They said no money would be deducted when leveling the land, but after it was done, they started deducting 200 yuan per mu," he said.
A detailed breakdown of corn seed deductions obtained by reporters shows that under the "High-standard Farmland Principal and Interest Repayment" item, deductions from farmers ranged from nearly 1,000 yuan to over 20,000 yuan, with larger farming areas incurring higher deductions.
While visiting Linze County, reporters found that in other townships where land leveling also occurred, some farmers bore no costs. For example, villagers in Shengli Village, Xuanwei Village, and Changzhuang Village in Xinhua Town stated they were not charged any fees for land leveling several years ago.
Several Xuanwei Village villagers also mentioned that their village conducted land leveling in two batches in 2021 and 2023. Initially, a fee of 200 yuan per mu was proposed, but villagers did not agree, and the matter was dropped.
Local authorities have also raised funds from farmers when implementing other farmland construction projects. For instance, regarding the 2025 high-standard farmland construction project in Nuanquan Village, Yahuan Town, several villagers stated farmers are responsible for a construction fee of 700 yuan per mu, to be deducted over 5 years, with 150 yuan per mu deducted from each household last year.
Linze County's Response: Failed Collective Land Transfer Plan Leads to Fees for Loan Repayment. Linze County authorities responded that the four villages in Pingchuan Town involved in the deductions were part of a pilot corn seed base construction project initiated by the county in 2021. The fees collected from farmers are primarily used to repay bank loans, a situation arising from the failure of the original collective land transfer plan.
Reporters learned that in 2021 and 2022, Linze County implemented farmland construction projects in Pingchuan Village, Sanyi Village, San'er Village, and Luwan Village in Pingchuan Town to develop a corn seed base. Construction included land leveling, pond building, and supporting facilities.
Wu Peitao, Deputy Mayor of Pingchuan Town, explained that charging farmers is mainly to repay bank loans. The original intent of the loan project was to first transfer the land and then implement the project—consolidating farmers' land into the village shareholding economic cooperative, which would then transfer it to Fumin Company (Linze County Fumin Industrial Investment and Development Co., Ltd.). Fumin Company would repay the loan principal and interest through operational income and then pay land transfer fees to farmers.
Linze County Fumin Industrial Investment and Development Co., Ltd. is a state-owned sole proprietorship enterprise established in June 2012, with a core focus as a regional agricultural industry investment and development platform. Wu Peitao clarified that before the farmland construction project was implemented, public opinion was widely solicited, and the village collective agreed to proceed. However, during actual operations, villagers ultimately disagreed to transfer their land management rights, causing the initially envisioned project operation model to fail.
Zhang Kai, former Party Secretary of Pingchuan Town, stated that before 2019, these villages had undergone low-level high-standard farmland projects. In 2021, to improve plot quality for the corn seed base, an upgrade was needed. However, as central fiscal budget funds had already been used for previous related projects, they did not qualify to apply for high-standard farmland project funds again, leaving bank loans as the only option.
Song Zixiong, Deputy Director of the Linze County Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, also stated that the four villages in Pingchuan Town are part of a renovation and upgrade project. Since the land was not transferred to Fumin Company, Fumin Company bears part of the loan principal and interest, and the villagers must also bear a portion.
"Beneficiaries Pay; Farmers Cover Loan Shortfall." Pingchuan Town government presented reporters with some land transfer contracts and villager representative meeting minutes. The contracts were signed between Pingchuan Village Committee and Linze County Nongxing Characteristic Agriculture Co., Ltd., a company controlled by Fumin Company.
Reporters noted that the relevant documents did not indicate that bank loans would be used for the farmland construction project. They also observed that the land transfer contract between the company and the village collective was signed in November 2021, two months after the relevant project's loan contract had already been signed.
Linze County Nongxing Characteristic Agriculture Co., Ltd. obtained a 700 million yuan loan from the Agricultural Development Bank of China, Linze County Branch. The loan purpose was for the renovation and upgrade project of Linze County's National Hybrid Corn Seed Production Base and Seed Industrial Park.
The head of Linze County Fumin Company stated that this loan covers seven construction components, with land consolidation being just one part. The financing contract does not specifically contain content for high-standard farmland construction.
Approximately over 20,000 mu of land in the four villages of Pingchuan Town underwent farmland construction projects like land leveling. Deducting 200 yuan per mu per year from farmers for 15 years, estimates suggest farmers in these villages will bear over 60 million yuan in farmland renovation and construction costs, averaging over 3,000 yuan per mu, roughly equivalent to the renovation costs reported locally.
Apart from Pingchuan Town, other townships have also raised funds from farmers for high-standard farmland projects. According to the Linze County government website, in 2025, the county plans to implement 33,000 mu of high-standard farmland (3,000 mu newly built, 30,000 mu renovated/upgraded), with a total project investment of 110.3425 million yuan. This includes 85.3 million yuan in central and provincial farmland construction subsidy funds and 25.0425 million yuan in self-raised funds from the project area's residents.
According to the 2023 "Gansu Provincial People's Government Office Opinions on Further Strengthening High-Standard Farmland Construction," county (city, district) governments should allocate funds at a standard of no less than 300 yuan per mu. Regarding this regulation, Song Zixiong explained, "Those who benefit should contribute. The annual subsidy funds for high-standard farmland are limited, so the shortfall is made up by the masses."
Gansu Provincial Agriculture Department On-site Verification: Local Authorities Misused Farmland Construction to Force Unreasonable Fees on Farmers. After the report aired, on the afternoon of June 13th, An Guomin, Deputy Director of the Gansu Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, led a team to the involved villages for on-site verification.
An Guomin stated that the actual deduction project was not a high-standard farmland construction project implemented with central and provincial financial subsidy funds, but rather a corn seed base upgrade project independently decided by Linze County and financed through bank loans. During the promotion of the corn seed base construction, local authorities allegedly misused the name of a high-standard farmland project to forcibly apportion fees to farmers. They will urge Zhangye City and Linze County to promptly develop a rectification plan and quickly carry out corrections.
An Guomin pointed out that after in-depth research among farmers, other issues requiring attention were discovered. Relevant clues obtained from the investigation will be transferred to the discipline inspection and supervision departments. "First, using bank loans for land leveling construction against farmers' wishes; second, land transfer also involved issues against the masses' wishes; third, inadequate grassroots policy publicity, apportioning unreasonable loan principal and interest to farmers under the guise of high-standard farmland construction."
"Since 2024, for the high-standard farmland construction projects we implemented through government bonds, especially the water-efficient projects in the Hexi region, central and provincial financial investments can basically cover the construction costs, no longer requiring fundraising or labor contributions from farmers," An Guomin stated. The Gansu Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will issue an urgent notice on June 14th, swiftly organizing agricultural and rural departments across the province to deeply learn from the lesson of the Linze County incident where fees were forcibly apportioned to farmers. A province-wide investigation of similar problems will be conducted to draw broader lessons and strictly prevent the forced apportionment of unreasonable fees to farmers under the name of high-standard farmland construction.
Zhangye City Establishes Joint Investigation Team, Will Seriously Pursue Accountability. Late on June 13th, the Zhangye Municipal Government issued a statement. It mentioned that the Zhangye Municipal Party Committee and Government have established a joint investigation team led by principal responsible comrades, with deputy leaders and responsible comrades from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision, Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, Municipal Finance Bureau, Municipal Natural Resources Bureau, and other departments as members. The team will quickly go to Pingchuan Town, Xinhua Town, Yahuan Town, and other areas in Linze County to conduct a special investigation.
The Zhangye Municipal Government stated that a vice mayor in charge will oversee the matter. Municipal and county agricultural and rural departments, in conjunction with the ongoing special rectification in the agricultural and rural fields, will listen face-to-face to public demands to ensure problems are accurately identified. For existing issues, problem lists, rectification lists, and responsibility lists will be established, with responsible persons and deadlines clarified, to ensure rectification is fully implemented. Simultaneously, systems will be established to create a long-term mechanism, and accountability will be seriously pursued based on verification findings.