Abstract:

 During the process of rural land reform in which ownership, contracting rights and management rights are separated, how to solve the disputes over rural land tenure not only influences rural stability, but also lays prerequisite and foundation for the confirmation of land rights. According to the Article 16 of The Law of Land Administration of PRC, the nonlitigation approach to settling disputes over rural land tenure is through “negotiation between concerned parties plus governmental handling”. However, this model has inherent drawbacks. Government should play a leading role in settling land tenure disputes through administrative negotiation which is both practically and legally wellfounded. As a nonlitigation way of solving rural land disputes, administrative negotiation has been put into the system of the administrative behavior as its process become formalized. Just like other administrative acts, administrative negotiation must abide by the regulation and basic principles of administrative law. Accordingly, the land law and relevant regulations should be revised in order to clarify the scope, procedures, and legal effects of administrative negotiation in solving rural land disputes. In this regard, administrative negotiation should be included in the scope of administrative litigation.

Key words:  , rural land dispute｜ administrative negotiation｜ land law