The Standing Committee of the 18th People's Congress of Daiyue District in Tai'an City, Shandong Province, recently convened a special inquiry session focused on natural resources work. Principal officials from over ten functional departments, including the District Natural Resources Bureau, the District Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, and the District Comprehensive Administrative Law Enforcement Bureau, were present to respond to inquiries. The entire meeting directly addressed bottlenecks, avoided circumlocution, and featured timed Q&A sessions that squarely tackled public concerns. The two-hour question-and-answer segment maintained a serious and pragmatic atmosphere, demonstrating substantial oversight intensity.

To ensure precise and effective oversight, the Standing Committee of the Daiyue District People's Congress planned the session two months in advance, formulating a specialized meeting plan. Through various channels such as field visits, research, symposiums, questionnaire distribution, and telephone surveys, they extensively gathered demands from all sectors. They comprehensively analyzed prominent issues including the "two non-" problems concerning cultivated land (non-agricultural use and non-grain production), plan implementation, law enforcement coordination, idle land, and land use approval. These were compiled into a special inquiry outline. Twelve members of the Standing Committee and People's Congress deputies were selected to conduct designated questioning, while a free questioning segment was also reserved. This process ensured that the most concentrated difficulties and bottlenecks reported by grassroots communities, enterprises, and towns/streets were brought to the meeting in their original form, guaranteeing the oversight was "targeted, precise in scope, and struck at the heart of the matter."

"In accordance with the 'Regulations on the Protection of Basic Farmland,' the issues of cultivated land 'non-agriculturalization' and 'non-grain production' in our district have repeatedly occurred despite bans, showing frequent rebounds. How will regulatory responsibilities be enforced and new problems be prevented at the source? Regarding the 'non-grain production' issues raised in the central inspection feedback, how will they be categorized for rectification to achieve complete resolution?" Daiyue District People's Congress Standing Committee member Liu Xueren initiated the session with the first pointed and direct question, targeting the core challenge of cultivated land protection.

In response, the Daiyue District Natural Resources Bureau and the District Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau provided detailed answers in turn. The head of the District Natural Resources Bureau explained that the district has established a four-level cultivated land management and protection system involving the district, towns, villages, and grid personnel, implementing the joint party-government responsibility for cultivated land protection. They rely on satellite imagery to investigate and rectify existing problems, distribute village-level basic farmland distribution maps to grassroots levels, and conduct regular publicity and control to curb new illegal land occupation. Addressing the rectification tasks for "non-grain production" from the central inspection feedback, the District Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau presented three management ledgers, implementing categorized measures for the 13,800 mu of affected plots across the district: zero tolerance for newly occurring illegal tree planting with deadlines for restoring cultivation; guiding the gradual phase-out of existing fruit trees and seedlings considering their growth cycles; and applying for adjustments and compensations for plots genuinely difficult to restore according to regulations. Simultaneously, a three-level supervision and verification mechanism was established, collaborating with discipline inspection and supervision commissions to strengthen accountability, and partnering with natural resources departments to set up a rapid verification and disposal channel for satellite imagery, aiming for early detection, early persuasion, and early rectification to firmly safeguard the bottom line of using good farmland for grain production.

From the fragmentation of permanent basic farmland to the revitalization of idle land, and from the disposal of approved-but-unallocated land to the confirmation of rural homestead rights, 15 key questions were raised one by one over the two hours, covering the entire chain of resource protection, factor guarantee, law enforcement supervision, and public service. Facing each inquiry, the responsible departments, based on their practical work, candidly analyzed the root causes of shortcomings and clearly presented rectification pathways, innovative measures, and long-term mechanisms item by item. During the free questioning segment, representatives from enterprises and townships further pressed on practical operational difficulties such as the "standard land" reform, policy publicity, and cross-departmental collaborative services. The responding units addressed each point in detail, refining service measures. The entire process was substantive and filled with concrete actions.

Throughout the Q&A session, no one left, and there were no requests for "off-site assistance." The responding personnel maintained a sincere and proper attitude, acknowledging existing problems without evasion or shirking responsibility. Through this question-and-answer exchange, the existing issues in the natural resources sector were clarified, and the performance responsibilities of various departments were reinforced.

"Conducting a special inquiry is not the end goal; promoting problem rectification is the core objective," stated a relevant official from the Standing Committee of the Daiyue District People's Congress. After the meeting, the District People's Congress Urban Construction and Environmental Protection Committee will comprehensively compile all questions and answers from this session to form formal deliberation opinions. These will be submitted to the district government and related functional units after review by the chairperson's meeting. Each department is required to formulate specialized rectification plans based on the problem list, detailing tasks and clarifying timelines, and submit a written report on the rectification implementation to the Standing Committee of the District People's Congress within two months. The Standing Committee will organize special deliberations and conduct satisfaction assessments, closely monitoring the "follow-up work" of the inquiry to promote the resolution of various pain points and difficulties through closed-loop tracking and supervision.

Attending the meeting, Daiyue District People's Government Deputy District Chief Chi Jianyong, representing the district government, stated on-site: "Regarding the problems and suggestions raised in this special inquiry on natural resources, the district government fully acknowledges and sincerely accepts them. We will conduct a profound examination of our work's shortcomings and weaknesses, adhere to learning from one case to address others, and carry out comprehensive investigation and rectification across the entire region. Focusing on three major directions—firmly guarding the red line of resources, improving government services, and deepening reform and innovation—we will refine measures and advance rectification implementation in a closed-loop manner. We will coordinate and promote key tasks such as cultivated land protection, land use guarantee, law enforcement supervision, and factor revitalization, continuously optimizing the quality and efficiency of natural resources development and utilization, to build a solid resource foundation for striving to compose a new chapter in the modernization of 'Beautiful Daiyue'."