Chinese Law | China: Is it correct that China does not allow private ownership of real property? (2024)

FAQs

Chinese Law | China: Is it correct that China does not allow private ownership of real property? ›

Yes, that is correct. Because China is a socialist country, all land is either subject to government ownership or collective ownership. In principle, municipal land is subject to government ownership and land outside cities is subject to collective ownership.

There is no private “freehold” land ownership in China. All urban land in China is owned by the Chinese government and is commonly referred to as “state-owned land.” All rural and suburban land is owned by rural collectives (ie, local groups of farmers) and is commonly referred to as “collective land.”

The answer is yes, foreigners are allowed to purchase property in China! The essential requirement is that you have studied or worked in China for at least one year on a residence permit. Foreigners are allowed to only own one residential property for dwelling purposes.

The current PRC Constitution, as most recently amended in 2004, clearly provides for the protection of “private property.” According to Article 13 of the Constitution, citizens' lawful private property is “inviolable.” The same article also states: “[t]he state, in accordance with law, protects the rights of citizens ...

Article 39 Owners of immovables or movables shall be entitled to possess, use, benefit from and dispose of the immovables or movables according to law. Article 40 On their own immovables or movables, owners shall have the right to create usufruct and security interest.

China has laws that restrict foreign investment into certain industries. However, some investors still invest in these industries through a Variable Interest Entity (VIE). This process works by funding domestic companies in exchange for control and profits in those companies.

Despite regional variations, this policy limits households with local registration (hukou) to own up to two housing units and migrants without local hukou who have been working and paying taxes in cities for more than one year to own only one unit.

Ownership rights are protected under Article 39 of The Property Law of the People's Republic of China, which gives the owner the right to possess, utilize, dispose of and obtain profits from the real property. However, this right has to comply with laws and social morality.

China owns roughly 384,000 acres of U.S. agricultural land, according to a 2021 report from the Department of Agriculture.

Chinese buyers bought $6.1 billion in existing homes in 2022, up 30% from the prior period even as the number of homes purchased by Chinese buyers dropped. That's because the average Chinese purchase price jumped from $710,000 to just over $1 million in the same period, by far the biggest average budget of any country.

How much of China is privately owned? ›

State-owned enterprises accounted for over 60% of China's market capitalization in 2019 and generated 40% of China's GDP of US$15.98 trillion dollars (101.36 trillion yuan) in 2020, with domestic and foreign private businesses and investment accounting for the remaining 60%.

China's state sector grew to 57.2 percent of the country's largest listed firms in the second half of 2022, with the private sector's share dropping 1.7 percentage points from 44.5 percent in mid-2022 to 42.8 percent at year-end.

Local governments are sinking further into debt, but after years of talk, officials have yet to introduce a real estate tax.

Article 57 The National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China is the highest state organ of power. Its permanent organ is the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

Article 37 If, after completing the substantive examination of an invention patent application, the patent administration department under the State Council finds that the application does not conform with the provisions of this Law, it shall notify the applicant and ask him or it to state his or its observations or ...

According to the Chinese Property Law, foreigners cannot buy land in China, as the land belongs to the state. Even if some limitations exist, foreigners who work in China or want to relocate here can purchase a property according to their needs and budget.

There are two major methods for foreigners to inherit the estate located in China, namely notarization and litigation. In the event that there is no dispute between successors over the estate, you may bring relevant documents for succession notarization at a Chinese notary public.

Highlights: Foreign Investment US Real Estate Statistics

From April 2020 to March 2021, investors from outside the United States bought 107,000 properties worth $54.4 billion in the United States. Foreign-born individuals make up 14.25 percent of the population in the country's 50 largest metros, on average.

“Owning” might not be the right term, as in China, property is simply leased for the duration of 70 years. After this time, the lease is usually renewed. However, the Ministry of Housing and Construction can theoretically nullify your lease at any time if your property is needed for development.

What is the average price of a house in China? ›

In 2021, the average price of real estate in China was over 10,000 yuan per square meter. Since the 1998 housing reform, property prices were rising continuously, which led to a culture of speculation among property buyers and real estate developers.

In 2021, the average sales price for residential real estate in Shenzhen was over 61.6 thousand yuan per square meters. It was the highest price among all major cities in China. The average price across the country was 16,533 yuan per square meter.

China does not permit the private ownership of land. Instead, private parties may obtain the right to use property for up to seventy years. These parties own the structures on the land but not the underlying real estate.

According to Russian law, foreigners are usually allowed to purchase or rent property in Russia, but certain exceptions apply. Also, in order to be allowed to buy a property, the foreign citizen must hold a valid Russian resident permit.

When selling your property in China, foreign owners must additionally pay the applicable taxes. In this transaction, you must pay the appropriate taxes, including the sale tax (about 5% of the entire selling price), the stamp tax (around 0.05% of the whole selling price), etc.

In a study of USDA reports, Pew found the foreign country that owns the most U.S. land is not China or Russia, but rather, our neighbors north: Canada. Investors from the Great White North, according to the USDA, own about 12.8 million acres of U.S. land, most of it forest land.

How have Chinese and Canadian investments developed over time? The share of Chinese investors in the U.S. real estate market remained somewhat constant until 2018 when it hovered at around 15 percent, before dropping to 11 percent in 2019 and then six percent in 2021.

Despite that increase, it's still only 0.88 percent of the 40 million acres owned by foreign countries at the end of 2021. Canada accounts for the most foreign-owned land in the U.S. at 31 percent, followed by the Netherlands at 12 percent.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) latest report on foreign ownership of American land, from 2021, 146 Chinese investors held 383,935 acres—nearly double the 193,700 acres that comprise New York City.

One reason why we believe so many Chinese investors love American real estate is because it is a viable path to citizenship, especially for HNWI.

Does China store 70% of its wealth in real estate? ›

In play now in China, where around 70% of household wealth is in property, this phenomenon is weighing on the post-pandemic recovery of household consumption, which Chinese policymakers have vowed to make a more prominent driver of economic growth.

At the end of 2021, of the 98 countries for whom data was available, Pakistan ($27.4 billion of external debt to China), Angola (22.0 billion), Ethiopia (7.4 billion), Kenya (7.4 billion) and Sri Lanka (7.2 billion) held the biggest debts to China.

The PRC claims the de jure administration of Taiwan Province, as well as mainland-nearby islands of Kinmen and Matsu Islands, currently controlled by the Republic of China (ROC).

Manufacturing, services and agriculture are the largest sectors of the Chinese economy – employing the majority of the population and making the largest contributions to GDP. Since 1949, the Chinese Government has been responsible for planning and managing the national economy.

US is at the top in nominal, whereas China is at the top in PPP since 2017 after overtaking the US. As of 2021, both countries together share 41.89% and 34.75% of the entire world's GDP in nominal and PPP terms, respectively.

With 1.31 billion native speakers, Chinese has the highest prevalence in China. As a percentage of the total population, the largest share of around 95 percent is in Hong Kong. A total of about 1.4 billion people worldwide speak Chinese as their mother tongue.

China's financial markets are feeling the first tremors of the looming $15.3 trillion local government debt crisis, which threatens to further derail the country's fragile economy.

The marginal effective tax rate (METR) in the United States under current law is 18.3 percent, compared to 4.8 percent in China, indicating the U.S. places a higher burden on marginal investment than China.

How Does the Healthcare System Work in China? China does have free public healthcare which is under the country's social insurance plan. The healthcare system provides basic coverage for the majority of the native population and, in most cases, expats as well.

Comparably, the Chinese tax rates are higher, meaning many American expats in China would pay more in tax locally than in the U.S. With this in mind, it's typically better for most U.S. taxpayers to use the foreign tax credit.

What is Article 31 Chinese Constitution? ›

Article 31

The state may establish special administrative regions when necessary. The systems instituted in special administrative regions shall, in light of specific circ*mstances, be prescribed by laws enacted by the National People's Congress.

Article 7 obligates Chinese individuals, organizations, and institutions to support national intelligence work. Article 14 gives the Chinese intelligence agencies the authority to demand such cooperation. U.S.companies operating in China must locally store all personal information that is collected and produced.

Article 13 Where the trademark of an identical or similar kind of goods is a reproduction, imitation, or translation of another person's well-known trademark not registered in China and is liable to cause public confusion, no application for its registration may be granted and its use shall be prohibited.

Article 51 If an invention or utility model, for which the patent right has been obtained, represents a major technological advancement of remarkable economic significance, compared with an earlier invention or utility model for which the patent right has already been obtained, and exploitation of the former relies on ...

Article 42.

The term of patent right for inventions shall be twenty years, the term of patent right for utility models shall be ten years, and the term of patent right for designs shall be fifteen years, all commencing from the filing date.

Rule 11(b) requires attorneys to make a reasonable prefiling investigation to determine that their pleadings and motions are “not being presented for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation”; that their “claims, defenses, and other legal ...

The constitution of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which cites the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), states that citizens “enjoy freedom of religious belief” but limits protections for religious practice to “normal religious activities,” without defining “normal.” The government recognizes five ...

It was the first ever case on the “right to be forgotten” to come before a court in China. According to a Wednesday post on the website for the Beijing Haidian District People's Court, Ren's claim was thrown out, with the court deciding that there is no “right to be forgotten” under Chinese law.

Today China is a country of homeowners with more than 90% of households owning homes (87% in urban and 96% in rural China) (Clark, Huang, & Yi, 2019). At the same time, more than 20% Chinese households own multiple homes, higher than many developed nations (Huang et al., 2020).

Can China buy land in the US? ›

“The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has no business purchasing land near military bases or for agricultural purposes – or for any other reason,” said Rep. Bill Johnson. “It is a critical matter of national security that we prevent the CCP from buying large swaths of American land.

It wasn't until the mid-90s that a series of reforms allowed urban residents to own and sell real estate. People were then given the option to purchase their previously government-owned homes at extremely favorable rates, and most of them made the transition to being property owners.

The 2022 Land Report 100, compiled each year by The Land Report magazine, released its annual list of landowners who own the most acres in the United States. The nation's largest private landowners are the Emmerson family in California who own over 2.4 million acres.

Recent reporting shows that a CCP-affiliated corporation purchased farmland in North Dakota that is just a stone's throw from high-capability military bases. The purchase raises the possibility that the Chinese government could use the farmland as a launching pad for espionage under the guise of operating a business.

Of the 1.3 billion acres of private agricultural land in the United States, foreign entities fully or partially owned roughly 40 million acres valued at $74 billion in 2021.

On March 30, 1867, the United States reached an agreement to purchase Alaska from Russia for a price of $7.2 million. The Treaty with Russia was negotiated and signed by Secretary of State William Seward and Russian Minister to the United States Edouard de Stoeckl.

But Russian land averages $400 per acre -- a mere 10 percent of the cost in France, and 20 percent of the price of land in Brazil. In the countryside, Russia's capitalist revolution is still a work in progress.

There are no restrictions on buying any property in Ukraine except agricultural land. Also, the number and size of apartments that a foreigner can own are unlimited. You can acquire an apartment in Ukraine for personal use, as an investment, or for rent.