NPC Adopts Property Law -- china.org.cn

The long-awaited and highly contested Property Law was finally approved at the Fifth Session of the Tenth National People's Congress (NPC) on March 16.

The NPC deputies began to deliberate on the draft on March 8 and had an open vote on March 16. Among the 2,889 deputies attending the closing session, 2,799 voted for it, 52 against it, 37 abstained and one didn't cast vote.

The Property Law is a civil law that will regulate property relationships and adjust civil relationships stemming from attribution and use of that property. It involves defining the property of the State, the collective, and the individual, as well as other property protection measures.

China's laws are usually submitted for approval after at most three reviews at the NPC Standing Committee. However, the debate of the Property Law has spanned nine years, receiving a record seven reviews at the NPC Standing Committee and stirring hot debates across the country.

The Property Law will take effect as of October 1, 2007.

Chronology of Property Law Legislation:

1993	Drafting of the Property Law starts
March 1998	The Legislative Affairs Commission of the Ninth NPC Standing Committee set up a civil code research team. The team entrusts Professor Liang Huixing from Law Research Institute under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Professor Wang Liming from Renmin University of China to make drafts. The two professors hand over their drafts in October 1999 and December 2000 respectively.
Dec. 1998	The Standing Committee of the Ninth NPC (1998-2003) brings forward in its five-year legislation plan that it will work on drafting the Property Law and compiling the Civil Code. The Property Law is then researched and waits for deliberations when conditions are favorable.
End of 2001	The Legislative Affairs Commission of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee makes a new draft on the basis of drafts of Professor Liang Huixing and Professor Wang Liming and passes it to courts nationwide for comments.
January 2002	The Legislative Affairs Commission makes further adjustments, and then publicizes Property Law (Opinion-Soliciting Version).
Dec. 23 2002	The 31st session of the Ninth NPC Standing Committee includes the Property Law in the draft Civil Code for a preliminary deliberation.
Dec. 2003	The Standing Committee of the Tenth NPC (2003-2008) lists the Property Law on its five-year legislation plan and the legislation plan for 2004.
August 2004	The Legislative Affairs Commission puts forward a new draft of the Property Law, which contains five parts, with 297 articles in 22 chapters.
October 2004	The draft of the Property Law undergoes the second deliberation at the 12th session of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee.
Nov. 3-5, 2004	The Law Committee of the Tenth National People’s Congress convenes to deliberate on the law articles one by one. It brings forward three principles for modification: give priority to the most urgent problems; make clear statement on such issues like transfer of house-site-use rights; make articles simple and easy to understand.
June 26, 2005	The 16th session of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee examines the draft of the Property Law for the third time. The new version is composed of 269 articles in 20 chapters.
July 1, 2005	The General Office of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee holds a press conference, inviting Professor Wang Shengming, the major drafter, and Yao Hong, another official with the Legislative Affairs Commission, to answer journalists’ questions.
July 10, 2005	The NPC Standing Committee publicizes the full text of draft Property Law to solicit opinions from the public. In 40 days, it receives over 11,543 comments and suggestions.
Aug. 12, 2005	Gong Xiantian, a law professor of Peking University, publishes a letter on the Internet that accuses the Property Law of violating China’s Constitution and betraying the socialist system. It arouses huge debates in jurisprudential circles and becomes a nationwide discussion. The legislation process is therefore delayed.
Sept. 26, 2005	Wu Bangguo, vice chairman of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee, chairs a special meeting to hear opinions from NPC deputies and people from all walks of life.
Oct. 22, 2005	The draft is reviewed for the fourth time at the 18th session of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee. In this draft, many opinions from the public were adopted, and many controversial questions were explained and made clear.
August 2006	The 23rd session of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee has a fifth review.
October 2006	The 24th session of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee deliberates on the draft Property Law for the sixth time.
Dec. 27, 2006	The 25th session of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee conducts the seventh review of the draft.
Dec. 29, 2006	The 25th session of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee votes on whether the Property Law should be submitted to the fifth session of the Tenth NPC in March 2007 for examination and approval. The result is 155 affirmative votes and one abstaining from voting.
Jan. 12, 2007	According to statutory precedence, the General Office of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee delivers the draft Property Law to the NPC deputies for deliberation.
Mar. 8, 2007	Wang Zhaoguo, vice chairman of the Tenth NPC Standing Committee, explains the latest draft of the Property Law, which is composed of five parts with 247 articles under 19 chapters, to over 2900 deputies attending the fifth session of the Tenth NPC in Beijing.

(China.org.cn by staff reporter Tang Fuchun, March 16, 2007)