Full Text: Explanation on China´s draft property law

(5) Private Property.

Since the reform and opening up, the economy has been developing rapidly, the people's living standards have continued to improve, and private property has been increasing with each passing day. Effective protection of private property of citizens is not only stipulated by the Constitution and is what the Party stands for, but also the general aspiration and urgent demand of the people. The draft property law stipulates," Individual persons shall be entitled to enjoy ownership of such immovables and movables as their lawful incomes, houses, articles for daily use, means of production and raw materials." "Lawful deposits and investments of individual persons and the gains derived from their investments shall be protected by law." "In accordance with the provisions of law, the State protects the rights of individual persons to inheritance and their other lawful rights and interests." "The lawful property of individual persons shall be protected by law, and illegally taking possession, looting and destruction of such property by any unit or individual is prohibited." These stipulations serve to further improve the legal system for protection of private property and are conducive to stimulating people's initiative to create and accumulate wealth and to promote social harmony.

Along with the reform of the housing system, more and more urban residents have come to possess their own houses, the bulk of which are in residential districts, therefore, the condominium right has become an important right in the individual persons' rights to immovables. Proceeding from the purpose of maintaining the lawful rights and interests of the owners of buildings, the draft property law explicitly stipulates that the owners shall enjoy ownership over the special parts within a building, such as the residential units and the units for business purposes, and enjoy the right of sharing and jointly managing the common parts other than the special parts, such as the public facilities like the lifts and public places like the greens. Moreover, the draft has also made stipulations governing such matters as ownership of the garages and parking lots, the functions of the owners' committee and the relations between the owners and the property services.