When the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, the Chinese Communist Party nationalized large parts of the land and property across the country. Under Chinese law, the state owns 100% of the land, while dwellers receive some sort of ‘lease right’ to live on the land. They have what I’d call ‘nominal possession’ (I don’t know whether this is the correct legal term as I am not a legal person, but it means that the land and buildings are owned by the state, while people are given a ‘right to live’ on the land).

The housing laws and property rights have slightly changed over time in China, particularly in the 1980s when these ‘lease rights’ (my term) was formalized and registered. Lease rights may run over several decades of what I know from anecdotal evidence, but I haven’t seen official data about that.

However, the Chinese state still owns the land, and it can revoke these ‘lease rights’ from people at any time.

This form of ownership is not comparable with anything we know in the West or any democratic society. So this article is misleading to say the least.

But the propaganda goes on … You see this kind of article over and again. It’s a false narrative.

But is the property-owning dream being tested?

The houses they own: