Abstract

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has been in a transition process from socialism to capitalism for roughly three decades. This article examines the impact of this transition on its land regime. It explores, first, main characteristics of present land ownership and management regime. Thereafter, it explains the rural production system and land regime in the socialist era. The effects of the dissolution of socialist economic system on rural and urban land are examined in the following section. Finally, social problems and challenges deriving from the change in land regime are discussed.

Although public ownership of land is formally maintained in PRC, land is now a commodity and has a price in the market. This process was launched at the end of 1970s via the substitution of the household for the commune as the responsible rural production unit. Today land use right is privatized either by lease or transfer agreements in a dual market structure and, both land and properties built on it are sold and purchased in these markets. It is asserted that China Communist Party is still controlling all private ownership transactions in this field via abandonment of de jure public ownership. However, it seems that current practices could be considered as preliminaries to a possible de jure public ownership in the long term.

Keywords: The People’s Republic of China, land ownership, land reform, household responsibility system, privatisation of land.