Personnel News | What is the Position of the National Natural Resources Inspector, and What Does It Responsible for?
Recently, the State Council appointed and removed national staff members, and Guan Zhiou concurrently served as the Chief Inspector of National Natural Resources.
Guan Zhiou is a male of Manchu ethnicity, born in December 1969 in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. He joined the Communist Party of China in December 1993, began working in July 1995, holds a Ph.D. degree in science, and currently serves as the secretary of the Party Leadership Group and the Minister of the Ministry of Natural Resources, concurrently serving as the Chief Inspector of National Natural Resources.
What is the position of Chief Inspector of National Natural Resources and what are their responsibilities?
The Chief Inspector of National Natural Resources is preceded by the Chief Inspector of National Land. In July 2006, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Notice on Establishing the National Land Supervision System (Guo Ban Fa [2006] No. 50)” to establish a national land supervision system. The State Council authorized the Ministry of Land and Resources to supervise and inspect the land use and management situation of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the central government, as well as cities specifically designated in the plan.
According to the “Notice on Establishing the National Land Supervision System,” one Chief Inspector of National Land was established and was concurrently served by the Minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources. One part-time Deputy Chief Inspector was served by a deputy minister of the Ministry of Land and Resources, while one full-time Deputy Chief Inspector (at the level of deputy minister) was also established. The Chief Inspector of National Land and Deputy Chief Inspectors were responsible for organizing and implementing the national land supervision system. An office for Chief Inspector of National Land was established within the Ministry of Land and Resources (at the level of a department director), and nine bureaus for Chief Inspectors of National Land were stationed in local areas to perform supervision and inspection duties on behalf of the Chief Inspector of National Land.
The improvement of national land supervision into national natural resources supervision is related to a new round of institutional reforms in 2018 when the Ministry of Natural Resources was established. According to the “Plan for Deepening Party and Government Institutional Reform,” to unite the duties of serving as a trustee for all natural resources owned by the whole people, regulate uses of all land space, restore ecological protection, solve problems such as inadequate ownership of natural resources and overlapping spatial planning, various duties related to natural resources were integrated to form the Ministry of Natural Resources as a component department of the State Council. The Ministry of Natural Resources retains the nameplate of the State Oceanic Administration externally.
After the establishment of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the relevant functions, regulations, etc., for national natural resources inspectors have also been clarified. The “Regulations on Function Allocation, Internal Structure and Personnel Establishment of the Ministry of Natural Resources” released by China’s Administrative Organization Network in September 2018 (hereinafter referred to as “Regulations”) pointed out that the internal structure of the Ministry includes the Office of Chief Inspector of National Natural Resources. Improve the system of national natural resources supervision, formulate relevant policies and working rules for natural resources supervision, guide and supervise the work of stationed bureaus for inspection, coordinate inspections across major areas or across inspection regions as authorized, and undertake supervision and inspection work on the implementation status of laws and regulations related to natural resources and spatial planning.
According to these “Regulations,” one Minister of Natural Resources serves concurrently as Chief Inspector (this Minister also concurrently serves as Chief Inspector), four Deputy Ministers serve concurrently as Deputy Chief Inspectors (one Deputy Minister also serves as a full-time Deputy Chief Inspector). Meanwhile, one Bureau for Chief Inspectors from nine regions (Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, Nanjing, Jinan, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Xi’an) is stationed in local areas to undertake supervision work within their respective regions.
Unlike previous land supervision systems, natural resource supervision now encompasses additional responsibilities such as ecological protection and restoration, mineral resource protection, implementation of spatial planning that includes important control lines such as ecological protection red lines, permanent basic farmland areas, urban development boundaries, etc. For example, according to the “Provisional Regulations on Function Allocation, Internal Structure and Personnel Establishment of Beijing Bureau for Chief Inspectors from National Natural Resources,” its main duties include supervising local governments in implementing strict land protection policies and resource management systems such as conservation measures for cultivated land resources; supervising local governments in implementing ecological protection and restoration during natural resource development and utilization; supervising local governments in implementing spatial planning that focuses on important control lines such as ecological protection red lines; conducting inspections on major issues related to natural resource development and utilization and ecological protection.
According to the official website of Ministry of Natural Resources (MOR), Chen Chenhao currently serves as a member of MOR’s Party Leadership Group and Deputy Chief Inspector (full-time), while Liu Guoh
