Legal property rights

That the State Council is reportedly going to review its 2001 regulations on urban real estate demolition and relocation is a welcome, though belated, start of a possibly difficult process.

The regulations were badly in need of repair to be legitimate. As many have observed, they contradict the country's property rights law.

While the law promises to safeguard lawful property ownership, the 2001 regulations bestow undefined, and consequently unrestrained, latitude on local governments and developers in demolishing and relocating urban structures in their way. Such latitude, while guaranteeing efficiency in the country's sweeping urban renovation programs, led to infringements upon civil rights.