中國土地徵收紛爭已有逐漸升溫趨勢，並演變成大規模群體性與暴力性衝突，徵地糾紛成為農民上訪與維權抗爭的焦點。地方政府在「經營城市」理念下激發「以地生財」的利益驅動，此成為其大量圈佔土地獲取高額土地出讓金的主要誘因，藉由「低價徵地、高價出讓」成為地方政府創造政績、增加財政收入及改善部門福利的捷徑，土地財政成為預算外財政的重要來源。本文擬從中國農村土地制度缺陷、公共利益模糊界定、法律衝突及變通三個面向，分析說明土地徵收的制度性缺陷，這是地方政府有所依恃憑藉能夠充分發揮擴張性徵地動機的導因。本文初步結論為：一、多元且不明確的土地所有權主體及模糊土地財產權界定，使得土地集體所有權演變成「政府所有權」，各級政府以「國家名義」或「公共利益」為幌子變成農村土地的終極所有者、最高仲裁者與絕對控制者，利用「公益性用地」與「經營性用地」間欠缺嚴格合理的劃分而尋求財政利益。二、公共利益概念的模糊性，恰恰為地方政府提供很大的解釋與操作空間，導致其行使徵地權時極大化其自由裁量權。地方政府假借「公共利益的需要」、「公共目的」之名，大量徵用以營利為目的之經營性用地獲取商業利益。三、有關徵地補償立法層次極為繁瑣，土地徵收補償的設定應始於憲法及終於法律，但現行土地徵收補償規定，既有土地管理法、也有行政法規，及各種規章、地方性法規及其他更低層次規範性文件，這使得不少地方政府經常採取法律變通方式減少對農民土地補償費，採取低於法定規範補償標準。

China's land expropriation disputes seem to be growing incrementally to the level of massive protest and violent conflicts. This dispute becomes the focus of peasants protests. Local governments, encouraged by the concept of managing the city, move to making profits by the land. This motivation creates large expropriated land and then to earn high profits in the form of "expropriated land rent." The standard procedure includes expropriation of land in low compensation and lends the land in high prices. This profit-making approach becomes the major political performance, fiscal income and improvement of civil servants welfare of the local government. This paper aims at examining the deficiencies of China's villages land system, the ambiguity of public interests, and the legal conflicts so as to explain the roots of expanded expropriation practice in rural China. This paper first concludes that the plural and uncertain property rights of the land contribute to the conflicts between peasants and the local governments, which take over the land and become the final owners, supreme arbitrators and ultimate controllers in the name of national needs or public interests. There is no clear distinction between land of public interests and land of profit-making. So the government administrators seek financial interests by manipulating the ambiguity. Secondly, the ambiguity of public interests gives the local governments ample tools to interpret and operate its flexible jurisdiction in the name of public interests needs and public purposes so as to secure business interests. Thirdly, the process of land expropriation is extremely complicated. Current regulations involve multiple legal statutes and rules rather than constitutional provisions. Many local governments take flexible measures to decrease the level of compensation to the peasants by lowering the compensation standards, which is designed and implemented by local governments.