The Revival of Private Property and its Limits in Post-Mao China: (Law in East Asia Series)

This monograph examines the nature and significance of the re-emergence of private property in rapidly changing post-Mao China. In examining this issue, the study explores a key dichotomy in Chinese law, that is, ‘public versus private’, and examines the manner in which the Chinese define ownership. The study stresses the importance of lack of clarity in the boundaries between the public and the private in property rights. While there is a limited move towards the recognition of private property in real estate in contemporary China, this analysis also shows that ownership in the law, and ownership as understood and practised socially, often diverge significantly. From the Qing dynasty reforms of the late nineteenth century onwards, ‘modernist’ law and entrenched social practice have often opposed each other. In contrast to the official, and indeed legal, support for unitary and exclusive property rights, the reality of the property regime has been a fragmentation of property rights. ‘Modern’ conceptions and theories of property rights emerged in the context of nation-building from the late Qing onwards, and unitary and exclusive property rights were considered as ‘badges’ of modernity. These conceptions and theories served (and still serve) the purposes of control and governance but were, and still are, often resisted in social practice and popular thinking, leading to alienation and conflict. As a result, analysis of the nature and the social and political implications of re-emerging private property rights provides important insights for our understanding of the changing nature of modern China.

Table of Contents:
Preface List of abbreviations Chapter 1: Introduction 1. Introduction 2. Discourses, Research sources and methods 3. Theoretical Perspectives 4. The Public-Private Distinction in China: Historical Background Chapter 2: Property and Property Rights in Historical Context: Late Imperial and Republican China 1. Introduction 2. Understanding Civil ‘Law’ in Qing and Republican China 3. The Socio-economic Conditions of Late Imperial China 4. Fragmentation of the Land Tenure System 5. Conclusion Chapter 3: Property Law Reform and the Revival of ‘the Private’ in Law in Post-Mao China 1. Introduction 2. The Historical Background to Property Law Reform 3. Debates over Different Proposals of the Property Law 4. Conclusion Chapter 4: The Transformation of Collective Ownership and Rural Governance 1. Introduction 2. Rural Governance in Traditional China and its Transformation 3. Collectivisation (1949-1978) 4. Decollectivisation 5. Rural Governance in Post-Mao China: the Rise of Neo-Collectivism and Post-Collectivism 6. Conclusion Chapter 5: The Transformation of State Ownership in Market Reform: Privatisation of the SOEs? 1. Introduction 2. Economic Reforms Stalled Between the Plan and the Market 3. The Central-Local Relationship: ‘Market-thwarting federalism’ 4. Conclusion Chapter 6: Emerging Private Ownership in Urban China: the Property Market 1. Introduction 2. The Emergence of the Rural-Urban Divide and the State Housing Allocation System 3. The Emergence of Urban Property Markets 4. Spatial, Social and Political Transformations 5. Conclusion Chapter 7: Land Disputes, Conflicts and Resistance 1. Introduction 2. Vulnerable Property Rights: Land Requisition and Forced Eviction 3. Access to Justice 4. Disputes, Conflicts and Resistance in Relation to Land in Post-Mao China 5. Transformation in the Role of Government 6. Conclusion Chapter 8: Private Property and China’s Future 1. Defining Property in China 2. Political Implications of the Revival of Private Property 3. Private Property and China’s Future Bibliography Appendix: Chinese Laws and Regulations Pertaining to Property in Post-Mao China Glossary of Chinese terms used in the text