Approval method

On April 16, 2025, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the State Forestry and Grassland Administration issued a document stipulating that land for large and medium-sized water conservancy and hydropower engineering hub construction areas and reservoir submerged areas can be submitted for approval separately according to the construction period. The land for immigration relocation and special facilities regeneration (renovation) shall be submitted to the natural resources department of the municipal and county people's government where the land is located, and may be submitted for approval together with the main project land use, or may be confirmed by the provincial natural resources supervisor after approval.

Approval of flooded areas

On August 16, 2023, the General Office of the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the "Notice on the Approval of Land Use in Water Surface Flooded Areas in Reservoirs (Rivers) in Water Conservancy and Hydropower Projects" (Natural Resources Office Letter [2023] No. 1558) stipulates that the flooded areas of the reservoir (river) do not go through the procedures for converting agricultural land; if they involve the use of land collectively owned by farmers, land expropriation procedures should be completed and approved according to the current status before submerged.

Road, ditches, channel and resettlement land

On June 13, 2023, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued the "Notice on Further Improving the Guarantee of Land and Sea Elements" (Natural Course Development [2023] No. 89) stipulates that the land directly related to major construction projects such as energy, transportation, water conservancy, and military can handle the conversion of agricultural land and land expropriation together with the project land, and in principle, shall not exceed the original land scale. In addition to the functional partitions specified in the land use standards, if the land use does not exceed 3% of the total land use quota of the project, and if the linear project cannot avoid the formation of small scattered angles after optimization design and the later utilization method is clearly defined, you can submit the approval together. Among them, if the main project allows the occupation of permanent basic farmland, if it is really difficult to avoid permanent basic farmland, such as roads, ditches, and canals, it can apply for occupation under strict demonstration and implement the re-order task as required.

Temporary land use:

On April 16, 2025, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the State Forestry and Grassland Administration issued a document stipulating that land that requires temporary use due to construction of water conservancy, hydropower and water transportation projects should be given priority to handling temporary land use procedures in planned flooded areas such as reservoirs (river) water surfaces in accordance with the law, and at the same time, accelerate the formal land use approval to ensure that the approval is completed before the temporary land use expires, saving land reclamation investment. If the temporary land required for other projects is within the pre-examination scope and the land use approval is completed before the expiration of the period, it can also be implemented in reference.