Xinhua - English

Xinhua - EnglishChina entering era of enlightenment for property rights
www.chinaview.cn 2005-07-24 22:09:35

NANJING, July 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Shortly after China made public its drafted law of property rights in early July to solicit public opinion for further revisions, people at a residential quarter in this capital of east China's Jiangsu Province set to use it as a powerful weapon to safeguard their legitimate interests related toan underground parking lot in the quarter.

China is entering an era of enlightenment for property rights. According to a recent survey, the people's awareness of the law remains low in the country, although they pay attention to the safety of their properties and have an unprecedented interest in the preservation and increase of property value.

Prof. Qiu Lufeng with elite Nanjing University said, "Changes have taken place in the property structure of both Chinese societyand individual citizens. China's existing property regime is out of fashion. It is essential to legislate a new law. The Law of Property Rights will help re-build the property regime and systemize the civil subject's disposition of properties," she added.

For example, Qiu said, some 20 years ago, all a couple needed to do when they decided to make a divorce was to determine with whom their child would live and who, the father or the mother, would continue to rent the public house. The rest of their property included only a few items of home electrical appliances and clothing. But things have changed significantly. Today, a couple may probably have a house, furniture, home appliances, stocks and bonds subject to property settlements during divorce.

"The Law of Property Rights is closely related with the daily lives of the masses of people. Once it is enacted, it will become a powerful and useful weapon for individuals to protect private property, "said Prof. Cai Dingjian with the Politics and Law University of China based in Beijing.

Attaching great importance to public properties, the Chinese have for long failed to treat private and public properties on an equal footing. They even felt shameful to talk about private properties several decades ago.

Last week, Mr. Wang, living in western Haidian District of Beijing, was driven out of his own home by a real estate developerand had his 12 houses leveled by the developer's bulldozer. All ofhis family belongings were buried by the debris.

Wang's story is not unique in the construction spree across China over the past few years. And in rural areas, farmers have nosay in sale of land-use rights by village heads.

The Law of Property Rights clarifies that the State safeguards the property ownership of individuals and that compensation shouldbe paid for the immovable properties to be dismantled and for landto be expropriated which is still under contract yet to be expired."

"Humanity's history is a history of respect being gradually paid to private property," commented Sun Xianzhong, head of the civil law research center under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

"Once the State values the property of individuals, the public's aspirations to wealth will be inspired, and social and economic development in the country will be motivated constantly," Sun said.

The Law of Property Rights will be also conducive to retaining more wealth in China, according to Sun.

In 2000, a total of 51 billion US dollars fled from China as against 47 billion US dollars in foreign direct investment flowinginto the country. Some of the money that fled was legitimate, but some was transferred abroad as the owners had no sense of security. Enditem