ATO staff attended workshop in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, to learn more about a joint land mapping/registration project.

Anhui Agricultural Commission (AAC) is working with US-based International Land Systems (ILS) to digitally map, record, and certify communal land that has been contracted to farmers in Anhui Province.  Assisted by a team of information technology companies, AAC and ILS developed a satellite imaging procedure that provides a cost-effective means of mapping the small land parcels of rural households.  The team then proceeded to map all of the land plots of two trial villages in Anhui province and to design a digitized land registry system to store their records.  Furthermore, they granted land certificates to confirm the rights of the farmers who had been allocated the segments of land.  The new method of land registration offered both the government and individuals access to complete, reliable, and accurate information regarding land boundaries and contracts.  ILS is hoping to expand the project in the future.