China's great leap forward on property
After 14 years of debate, China is due to pass a property-rights law next Friday.
from the March 15, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
In its careful shuffle along the reformist path, the government is also putting its left foot forward at this NPC, promising more spending on education and healthcare, and major legislation in the coming months to strengthen labor rights and social-security protection.
Brandishing his goal of a "harmonious society" beset by less of the envy and social conflict that scars today's China, President Hu seems guided more than anything else by the search for "the proper balance between the need for further and deeper economic reforms and at the same time the need to go much further in terms of social protection" says the Western diplomat.
Even though he does not agree with them, Mr. Li welcomes the law's opponents as "an important counterbalance to power in China.
"The result of their opposition could be seen as a warning to the government that in the future it should pay more attention to social fairness and less to economic efficiency," he says.
While the law's drafters say in private they were disappointed to have been obliged to amend their original proposals for political reasons, and critics say they regret not having been able to block the law, "improvements always come step by step," Li adds.
"It was a compromise" he says. "But history advances by compromise."
China's property law
Communist Party officials have been debating the proposed property law for the past 14 years. In theory, the landmark law would grantequal protection to private, state, and collectively owned property. But gray areas remain with regard to "collective" farmland.
Private: This is the first bill to clearly stipulate legal protection for private property. The law would also cover "means of production" such as factories and workshops.
State: The law would protect government property from corrupt sales to private investors, a guarantee seen as a concession to critics who oppose private ownership. Industries seen as crucial to China's security (defense, energy, etc.) will remain in state hands.
Collective: Agricultural land would remain a collective possession. The law would not protect farmers on collective land from government seizure or allow for the use of farmland as collateral by private citizens.
Sources: Stratfor, The Economist, AP
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