Li Haiming was called back home two months early before Chinese New Year, and not only because of preparations for the traditional family gathering.

In Li's village in Nanxiong, a city of about 450,000 people in northern Guangdong province, agricultural and land resources officials were busy verifying farmland usage rights for rural families, a nationwide mission started in 2013.

Li's 0.2 hectares of farmland in Liren, a village with 80 households, was formerly rented to families for growing rice and other crops while he and his wife worked in a furniture factory in the prosperous Pearl River Delta.

"I was afraid the farmland would eventually become the property of other families," Li said.

After the verification of farmland usage and contract rights, Li was guaranteed a certificate of land-use rights, which specify the ownership, contract and operating rights of the land.

"I will probably transfer the land-use rights to others who are interested in growing large-scale agricultural products," he said.

In Li's village, a growing number of families are interested in transferring their land-use rights to individuals and business groups.

"After verifying land-use rights, we are able to make more money by allowing the planting of more cash crops by agricultural companies or individual investors," Li said.

According to a document issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council in 2013, China will finish verification of rural land ownership and land-use rights by 2018.

"Verifying land ownership rights and land-use rights is of great importance to the protection of farmers' interests," said Liu Zhifu, deputy director of the agricultural bureau in Shaoguan city, which administers Nanxiong.

The "No 1 central document", a name traditionally given to the first policy statement released by the central authorities in the year, which was issued on Sunday, reiterated calls for the implementation of rural land reform, which separates farmland ownership rights, contract rights and operating rights.

According to the document, farmers are allowed to earn more by transferring their land rights to individuals or agricultural business groups.

"New industries and new types of businesses will become engines of rural development and help increase the income of farmers," Liu said.

According to Liu, land-use rights for more than 40,000 hectares of farmland in Shaoguan, which administrates Nanxiong, were verified by the end of this year.