RURAL DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE - Consulting Services



	Capacity Statement & Expertise Curricula Vitae Experience

Li Ping, M.P.A., J.D.
Rural Development Institute
Wanda Plaza, Building No. 1, Suite 1906
93 Jianguo Road, Chaoyang District
Beijing 100022, China
Phone: 86-10-5820 5272
Fax: 86-10-5820-5273
pingl@rdiland.org

KEY QUALIFICATIONS
Mr. Li Ping has extensive land tenure experience, including forestland tenure, tenure security, land tenure law, eminent domain law, resettlement law and policy, regulatory takings, compensation valuation, land use law, land policy, and land-related institutional expertise in developing countries. He has assisted the Chinese government in drafting and implementing laws and regulations governing farmers’ land rights, and provided consultancy to international development organizations in formulating policies on tenure security for farmers, land expropriation and resettlement. He conducted numerous rounds of rural fieldwork throughout China, and has experience working with Chinese government agencies and academic institutions to reduce poverty through land reforms. Mr. Li has experience with program design, planning, implementation, and management. He currently serves as RDI’s resident China attorney and manages RDI’s Beijing office. He also has three years of farming experience in China.

EDUCATION
J.D., University of Maine School of Law, 2000.

M.P.A., Seattle University, with Honors.

B.A., Southwest Teacher’s University, Chongqing, China, 1977. Majored in English Literature.

LANGUAGES
Chinese (native), English (fluent)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Staff Attorney, Rural Development Institute, May 2000 - present, Seattle, Washington. Represents RDI in China and serves as local lead on a variety of RDI projects. Mr. Li has participated in the following representative assignments:

Legal Framework and Institutions of Rural Land in China. Comprehensive review of regulatory and institutional framework of rural land, including farmland, forestland/forests and residential land. Focal analysis on legal and institutional defects with respect to expropriation of these rural assets, compensation schemes, valuation of these assets and expropriation procedures. Consultancy on reforming China’s land system. Funded by the Canadian International Development Agency. (September 2007 - present)
Review on China’s Legal Regime Governing Collective Forestland. In-depth legal analysis on existing legal framework governing ownership of and use rights to collective forests and forestland. Extensive research on international legal experience with respect to physical expropriations of forestland and related resettlement, regulatory takings, and compensation valuation of forestland and forests. Field research and document review on local practices concerning farmers’ rights to forests and forestland, including indigenous farmers’ rights to forestland. The final product includes a comprehensive review and analysis on existing regulatory framework on collective forestland and recommendations for legislative reforms, a legal review of international practice in regulatory takings and associated compensation valuation, and a research report on international approaches to dispute resolution concerning farmers’ forestland rights. Funded by Rights and Resources Initiative, an international think tank on forests located in Washington DC. (September 2006 - present)
Comprehensive Legal Review on China’s Rural Land System . Comprehensive legal analysis on existing Chinese laws, regulations and policies concerning rural land, with an emphasis on land expropriations, resettlement and assets valuation. The final product includes a thorough review of the development of Chinese land laws, an in-depth analysis on the regulatory regime of assets expropriation, resettlement and assets valuation, and a series of recommendations for further legislative reforms on China’s land system. Funded by the World Bank. (April 2006 - June 2007)
Social Safeguard Policy Evaluation. Field research, document review and legal analysis with respect to compensation, resettlement, and procedural safeguards in China. Evaluation of Asian Development Bank’s funded projects in China for compliance with the ADB involuntary resettlement policy. Funded by the Asian Development Bank. (February 2006 to August 2006)
Land Valuation and Compensation in Expropriation Law and Practice in China, Cambodia & India. Field research, literature review, comparative studies and assessments, and legal and policy advice on asset valuation relating to development-induced land expropriations. Final work product consists of a comprehensive paper reviewing the three countries’ valuation methodologies of land and other immovable assets and their corresponding compensation schemes. It also includes country-specific recommendations and general advice on how ADB may help client countries improve their valuation and compensation policies. Funded by the Asian Development Bank. (September 2005 - January 2006)
Consultant to the World Bank for the National People’s Congress of China in drafting its Property Law. Reviewing, researching, and proposing comprehensive drafting recommendations regarding the provisions concerning real estate, land rights, land registration, assets expropriation and compensation, and procedural safeguards in expropriations, in order to establish coherent and fair rules in China’s first modern code on private property rights. Funded by the World Bank. (August 2005 - December 2005)
Implementation of the 2002 Rural Land Contracting Law Project. With Development Research Center of China’s State Council. Advised Chinese government on strengthening tenure security for 800 million farmers through implementing the Rural Land Contracting Law and on reforms of land takings regime. Provided technical assistance on design and establishment of land registration, land dispute resolution mechanisms and legal aid facilities for farmers. Assisted provincial governments with drafting of provincial implementing regulations for the law. Conducted fieldwork and designed large-scale survey to monitor and assess implementation of the law throughout the country. Trained local officials with techniques for the law’s implementation. Funded by the World Bank Institutional Development Fund and US-China Legal Cooperation Foundation.(April 2003 - April 2006)

Protecting Women’s Land Rights Under the Rural Land Contracting Law. With All China Women’s Federation. Conducted extensive research into international and Chinese experience on rural women’s land rights. Assisted legislative drafters in improving legal rules on rural women’s land rights, including provision of specific legal language to China’s Supreme Court and provincial governments for formulation of judicial interpretation and implementing regulations for the Rural Land Contracting Law. Funded by the Ford Foundation. (2003)
Development and Implementation of Rural Land Tenure Legislative Reform Project. With Development Research Center of China’s State Council. Assisted legislators in drafting the Rural Land Contracting Law and provided legal opinions on its legal drafts for legislative readings. Conducted fieldwork to monitor the process of land tenure development. Advised governments on policy initiatives for land tenure security. Funded by the World Bank Institutional Development Fund. (April 2000 - 2002)

China Non-Arable Land Tenure Research Project. With Center for Community Development Studies, Yunnan Province, China. Conducted field research on land tenure and management practices on grassland and forestland in three counties of Yunnan Province. Participated in the preparation of a research report on international comparative experience on grassland and forestland tenure and management systems and recommendations for legislative reforms on grassland and forestland in China. Funded by Rockefeller Brothers Fund. (2001 - 2002)

China Land Management Law Implementation Monitoring Project (Round 1). With Renmin University of China, Beijing. Participated in designing and organizing a 1,700 household sample survey monitoring implementation of the 1998 Land Management Law in 17 of China’s largest agricultural provinces. Analyzed the survey results and formulated recommendations for further legal reforms on farmers’ land rights. Supported by private foundations, including the William H. Gates Foundation and the LeBrun Foundation.(1999)

China Land Management Law Implementation Monitoring Project (Round 2). With Renmin University of China, Beijing. Designed, organized and managed the second round of 1,700 household sample survey monitoring implementation of the 1998 Land Management Law in 17 of China’s largest agricultural provinces. Supported by private foundations, including the William H. Gates Foundation, the LeBrun Foundation, and the US-China Legal Cooperation Fund. (2001)

China Sustainable Development for Small Townships Project. UNDP China and Small Township Development Institute, Beijing. Consultant services providing legal and policy advice concerning the development and adoption of land use plans, development and implementation of legislation on eminent domain (compulsory land acquisition), and the facilitation of land market development in China. Funded by the UNDP. (1998 - 1999)

China Rural Land Policy Project (1997 to 1999). With China (Hainan) Institute for Reform and Development (CIRD), Hainan Province, China. Participated in preparing a report on international comparison on land systems and conducting field research in Hainan, China. Presented results of this work at an international symposium in China. Funded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). (1997 - 1999)

Research Associate, Rural Development Institute, 1987-May 2000,Seattle, Washington. Conducted policy research and analysis related to issues of land tenure reform in China. Wrote reports and made policy recommendations to Chinese leaders on rural land reform. Planned and coordinated research surveys on issues of China's rural development. Organized field research with Chinese government officials and agencies. Completed eleven rounds of fieldwork on rural land systems in twelve provinces.

Managing Editor, China Institute for Scientific and Technical Information, 1985-1987, Chongqing, China. Planned and controlled all phases of the production of Scientific American (Chinese Edition), including staffing, budgeting, program design, process control and staff supervision; managed international cooperation programs for the Institute. Information Consultant, 1978 to 1985. As Information Consultant, wrote, translated and edited articles for the magazine; gathered, interpreted and analyzed information for feasibility studies for local businesses on technical issues involved in technology import projects.

Information Manager, Daxian Prefectural Commission on Science and Technology,1977 - 1978, Sichuan, China. Managed scientific information collection and processing; organized the provision of information series to the public, and coordinated inter-departmental efforts in information analysis for special projects.

Educated Youth Farmer, Xiwai Commune, 1971 - 1974, Daxian County, Sichuan, China. Conducted a wide range of farming activities under the collective farm system; managed the brigade youth organization. 1973-74 Excellent Educated Youth Farmer of the County.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

"On Solid Ground." South China Morning Post, February 23, 2008.

"Secure Property Leads to Piece of Mind." Caijing Magazine, February 27, 2008.

"A Legal Review and Analysis on China’s Forest Tenure System with an Emphasis on Collective Forestland." Research Books on Forest Product Trade in China and Asian Countries (with Keliang Zhu).

"Regulatory Takings." The Rights and Resource Initiative working paper.

"Rural Land Rights under PRC Property Law", Asia Law & Practice, Vol. 21, No. 9, November 2007 (with Keliang Zhu).

"Compensation and Valuation in Resettlement: China, India and Cambodia", The Asian Development Bank Working Paper, November 2007.

"The Rural Land Question in China: Analysis and Recommendations Based on a 17-Province Survey in 2005". New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Vol, 38, No. 4 (with Keliang Zhu, Roy Prosterman, Ye Jianping, Jeffrey Riedinger and Ouyang Yiwen).

"Implications of the New Community Movement in Korea." Caijing Magazine, No. 25, 2006 (with Roy Prosterman).

"Farmers Must Have Secure Land Tenure", South China Weekly, April 29, 2005.

"The Foundation of Farmers’ Property Rights", South China Weekly, December 29, 2004.

"Reform on Land Takings Regime: Fieldwork Findings and Reform Recommendations", China Rural Survey, No. 59 (2004/6) (with Brian Schwarzwalder and Roy Prosterman).

"Rural Land Tenure Reforms in China: Issues, Regulations and Prospects for Additional Reform", FAO Land Settlement and Cooperatives Special Edition on Land Reform, (2003).

"An Update on China’s Rural Land Tenure Reforms: Analysis and Recommendations Based on a Seventeen –Province Survey", Columbia Journal of Asian Law, Vol. 16 (Fall 2002) (with Brian Schwarzwalder, Roy Prosterman, Ye Jianping, Jeffrey Riedinger).

"Women and Land Tenure in China: A Study of Women and Land Rights in Dongfang County, Hainan Province", Rural Development Institute Report #110, 2001 (with Jennifer Duncan).

Rural Land Reform in China and the 1998 Land Management Law, Rural Development Institute, Report #98, 1998, (with Prosterman, Hanstad, and Schwarzwalder).

"Large-Scale Farming in China: An Appropriate Policy?", Journal of Contemporary Asia, Vol. 28, No. 1 (1998) (with Roy Prosterman and Tim Hanstad).

"Can China Feed Itself?" Scientific American (July 1996) (with Prosterman and Hanstad).

Land Reform in China: Auctioning Rights to Wasteland, Rural Development Institute, Report #88, 1995 (with Hanstad).

"The Reform on the Land System in China’s Countryside", Chinese Rural Economy, No. 3, March 1995 (Serial No. 123) (with Prosterman and Hanstad).

Reforming China's Rural Land System: A Field Report, Rural Development Institute, Report #86, 1994 (with Prosterman and Hanstad).

Land Reform in China: The Two-Field System Experiment in Pingdu, Rural Development Institute, Report #85, 1994 (with Prosterman and Hanstad).