Chinese Property Rights Law: Old Wine in a New Bottle?
Lawasia Journal, p. 163, 2007
25 Pages Posted: 9 Oct 2010
Date Written: June 5, 2007
Abstract
This paper introduces the fundamental principles and salient features of the new Property Rights Law (hereafter, The Law) in China. It is not a comprehensive review of the law. Rather, the intention is to outline major changes made by 'the law' to previous laws, especially the 1986 General Principles of Civil Law and the 1995 Security Law. The paper looks into the widely publicised debate over the constitutionality of the law during its legislative review. It explores the underlying rationale and conflicts of major changes the law accommodates. It argues that, although the law does improve upon previous laws at a number of points, such as the institutionalisation of the doctrine of bonafide acquisition, the main achievement of the law lays not so much in changes made to individual provisions as in the elevation of the status of private property in the whole legal system. Overall, the Property Rights Law consolidates recent reforms in property areas and creates a more favourable legal environment for the protection of private properties.
Keywords: Chinese Property Law, Bona Fide Acquisition of Land, Protection of Private Property, Preservation of Public Property, Security Rights
JEL Classification: K11
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation