China’s legislature is considering a bill that would grant increased protection for individual property rights

BEIJING, March 8 — In preparation for likely approval, China’s legislature on Thursday began examining a much-debated law that helps protect private property in an increasingly well-off society.

Though the Communist Party still believes the state owns all land, the growing economy has meant that private property “has been increasing with each passing day” and the protection of it is the “urgent demand of the people,” the draft legislation states.

The latest draft of the property law seeks to strike a delicate balance between the need to continue greasing the wheels of the Chinese economy – which depends on private investment – and satisfying old guard officials reluctant to see the socialist ideals they have relied on since 1949 jettisoned.

“As the reform and opening-up and the economy develop, people’s living standards have improved in general, and they urgently require effective protection of their own lawful property accumulated through hard work,” said Wang Zhaoguo, Deputy Chairman of the National People’s Congress, in introducing the latest draft of the measure to the legislature.

Individuals shall own “their lawful incomes, houses, articles for daily use, means of production and raw materials,” the legislation states. “Lawful deposits and investments of individual persons and the gains derived from their investments shall be protected by law.” Illegally taking possession or destroying any such property is forbidden.

The law is not perfect, of course. It still recognizes the concept that property is owned by the state and individuals are merely given a right to use that property, it’s that right of use that the law protects, not private ownership of land.  As one Chinese dissident points out, this is far from a perfect situation:

“As long as the problem of land ownership is not solved, conflicts on unfair land seizure cannot be avoided. Since land is in the hand of the government, a developer can bribe an official and make the official claim that the land is seized for public use,” said Liu Xiaobo, a leading political dissident and literary critic. “If the developer could get the approval from the official, he is legally entitled to seize the land.”

Ironically, thanks to Kelo, developers can do that here to.