ANALYSIS: China's property law "ends capitalism debate," backers say

By Bill Smith Mar 16, 2007, 9:43 GMT

Beijing - The passing of a controversial law to protect private property marks the end of China's debate about the direction of economic development and the underlying ideology, supporters say.

'The revision of the property law delivers an important political message that China will stick to the direction of [economic] reform and opening up,' Yin Tian, a legal expert at Beijing University, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The National People's Congress began discussing the draft property law in 2002 and has since reviewed it an unprecedented seven times, mainly because of opposition within the ruling Communist Party from members who believe the law leads the party away from its founding principles.

'The difficulties before 2005 were basically technical problems,' Yin said.

'After 2005, the main obstacles to the revision of the property law came from interruptions by leftists,' he said.

The passage on Friday of the property law, with 97 per cent of the 2,800 delegates voting in favour, was a 'signal of further reform and opening up,' NPC Standing Committee member Liu Hezhang said.

It suggests that 'China will not start a new round of the 'capitalism or socialism' dispute,' Liu told the official Xinhua News Agency.

The leftists' objections to the law were popular 'for a certain time' because they connected the property law with 'growing social conflicts' and the protection of 'illegal income,' Yin admitted.

'The leftists think [economic] reforms have cost too much and that weak groups in our society have lost out,' said Yan Yu, a specialist in enterprise management at Beijing University.

State media gave no coverage of the long debate before and during this year's annual NPC session.

But leftist party members were allowed to post articles and comments on websites such as Maoflag, which claims to uphold the spirit of former leader Mao Zedong.

The intra-party debate over the direction of China's economic and political development actually dates back to the late 1950s and came to a head with the 'ultra-left tendency' of the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, according to the Communist Party's official history.

Deng Xiaoping launched the first economic reforms in the early 1980s, backing the changes with slogans such 'to get rich is glorious' and 'some people must get rich first.'

His successors, retired leader Jiang Zemin and current state president and party leader Hu Jintao, added their own ideological twists to Deng's 'socialism with Chinese characteristics' as China's economy grew rapidly without major political reform.

But growing income gaps and regional imbalances have pushed the current leadership back towards a 'people-centred' government.

'There are a lot of sharp conflicts in the changing society: How to protect the interests of farmers, how to protect the interests of urban residents when their homes are going to be taken down by the government,' Yin said.

'The property law has tried to provide resolutions to all of these issues, so the property law is conducive to keeping stability in our society.'

The law takes effect from October 1, shortly before an important five-yearly party congress is expected to be held.

According to readings at the NPC, the 247-article law contains detailed provisions to protect 'lawful incomes, houses, articles for daily use, means of production and raw materials' as well as individual inheritances, investments and earnings on investments.

It includes provisions on compensation for the compulsory purchase of collective-owned rural land and urban homes.

'In the political aspect, the property law will protect the state, collective and private property equally, and it can protect the achievements that we made since the start of our reform and opening up policy,' Yao Libo, a People's Liberation Army delegate to the NPC, told dpa.

'In the economic aspect, it can provide a relatively stable environment for development for all forms of ownership and enterprises - even for individuals,' Yao said.

'The biggest beneficiary of the property law will be the common people,' Yin said.

The delays and changes to the draft law provided a 'good opportunity to let people know more about it,'he said.

'I don't think the leftists can still gain popularity since more people now understand the property law.'