World Bank loan to the projects of forestry rehabilitation and development in Hunan Province

5.3 Policies and Laws Relative to Ethnic Minorities

About the nationality affairs, either national or provincial government has a series of laws and regulations. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy clarifies the state policies on ethnic affairs. The White Paper Book on this law was officially publicized in 2004 for the first time. The Law of the People's Republic of China on Regional National Autonomy is fully applicable to HFRDP. Article 2 in Chapter 1 points out that ethnic autonomy shall be applied in areas inhabited by minorities; Article 28 in Chapter 1 indicates that the ethnic autonomy governments should manage and protect local natural resources, and it has the priority to utilize local natural resources in suitable ways for local development in accordance with the planning of laws or national government. Article 65 also stipulates that when the state utilize resources in autonomous minority area for development, the interests of minority autonomous region and arrangements in favor of local economic development, local minorities’ life and production shall be taken into account. The State should compensate for when natural resource export happens in ethnic autonomous regions. In the Preamble of 1982 Constitution, it states that: “The People's Republic of China is a unitary multi-national state built up jointly by the people of all its nationalities. Socialist relations of equality, unity and mutual assistance have been established among them and will continue to be strengthened”. Article 4 of the Constitution indicates: “All nationalities in the People's Republic of China are equal. The state protects the lawful rights and interests of the ethnic minorities and upholds and develops a relationship of equality, unity and mutual assistance among all of China's ethnic groups. Discrimination against and oppression of any nationality are prohibited; any act which undermines the unity of the nationalities or instigates division is prohibited. The state assists areas inhabited by minority nationalities in accelerating their economic and cultural development according to the characteristics and needs of the various minority nationalities. In the struggle to safeguard the unity of the nationalities, it is necessary to combat big-nation chauvinism, mainly Han chauvinism, and also necessary to combat local-national chauvinism. The state will do its utmost to promote the common prosperity of all the nationalities. ” The Common Program of Chinese People’s Counter Political Consultative Conference settled in 1949 and the Constitution of the People's Republic of China" in each amendment have clearly pointed out that the minorities have the freedom to preserve or reform their ethnic customs. In 1994, the CPC HN Provincial Party Committee and HN Provincial People's Government issued a number of preferential policies on ethnic minorities and socio-economic development in their inhabited areas, and the No.23 document of 1994 have actively helped the Ethnic minority to develop forestry economy.窗体顶端

5.4 Policies and Laws Relative to Women

Achieving gender equality is a basic state policy of China. The Constitution expresses clearly that “Women in the People's Republic of China enjoy equal rights with men in all spheres of life, political, economic, cultural and social, and family life.” The article 2 in The People's Republic of China Law on the Protection of Women's Rights issued in 1994 states that the state shall take necessary measures to gradually improve various institutions to protect the rights and interests of women and to eliminate all kinds of discrimination against women. The state shall protect the special legal rights and interests enjoyed by women. Discrimination, abuse, abandonment, mutilation of women are prohibited. Article 6 in The People's Republic of China Law on land contracts in rural areas requires that women and men enjoy equal rights for the rural land contracts. Women’s legal rights is protected in land contracting, any organization or individual shall not deprive and offend against the land contracting right that women have. Development of Chinese Women (2011-2020) brings social gender awareness into the legal system and public policies, proposing to promote the comprehensive development of women and harmonious development between the two genders, to promote simultaneous development of women and social economy, to protect women's equal access to economic resources and participation in economic development, national and social affairs and social security. It also pays special attention to the fundamental rights of rural women. The Regulations to Protect the Legitimate Rights and Interests of Women and Children in HN Province and HN Provincial Women's Development Plan (1996-2000) issued in 1996 are milestones for women’s development in HN Province. In 2000, People's Government of HN Province developed and issued HN Provincial Women's Development Plan (2001-2010) which mainly secures women’s equal access to capital, credit, land, technology, information and other rights, and that rural women enjoy equal rights with men in their habited area in land contract rights, production and operation rights, homestead allocation right, land compensation, stock dividends and other rights. And we should make specific investments in favor of women's survival and development to improve their economic situation.

5.5 Ecological Public-benift Forest Policy

In 2003, The CPC Central Committee’s Resolution to Accelerate Forestry Development ” (No.9 Document) was issued to initiate compensation program for ecological forests in China. In the end of 2008, most of the ecological forest has received state subsidies. According to The Ares Delimits of Key Ecological Forest, commercial lumbering are prohibited in all the state, collective or individuals forests that belong to ecological forests, and the state will compensate for the prohibition. The principle of “Who delimits, who subsidize” is applied in ecological forests. In other words, those ecological forests delimited by the state should be subsidized by the state, while those delimited by the local authorities (province, country) should be subsidized by themselves.