China land reform disappears from radar

Coverage of reform issues had been stepped up in the official press. And President Hu Jintao made a high-profile trip to rural Anhui province, where state media said he told farmers that they would be able to transfer their land rights.

Yet by the time the closed-door meeting wrapped up Sunday, the issue had all but disappeared from public view. It wasn't even mentioned in the final communique from the 368-member decision-making body.

That has led some analysts to speculate that hard-liners who benefit from the status quo managed to fight off the reforms. Others say that, given the vague nature of many Chinese official statements, the measures still may be implemented.

At stake is a system of ownership restrictions that hinders China's 740 million farmers trying to improve productivity, often leaving them at the mercy of corrupt local party officials.

"I'm very disappointed," said Hu Xingdou, an economics professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology. "The government and top leaders are so focused on harmony these days that they just give up when they face resistance. They need to try harder."

Land reform efforts have foundered for decades in part because the issue encapsulates many of modern China's fundamental contradictions. In spite of a roaring market economy, leaders of this nominally Communist country maintain a collective land ownership system.

Some Communist hard-liners say enhanced ownership rights would solidify Western capitalism, undercutting the party's grip on power. Others argue that they would prompt the mostly uneducated farmers to sell their land for a song, and eventually drift into the cities, homeless and penniless.

Delay also carries a cost. The system has allowed corrupt local authorities to grab huge swaths of land from farmers at a fraction of its value, spurring indignation, riots and unrest. And farmers have little incentive to upgrade the land.

Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao spent much of their careers in the countryside. They understand the farmers' plight and want to make changes, said a long-standing Communist Party member who asked not to be identified.