Chinese Takings Chuanhui Wang, The Constitutional Protection of Private Property in China: Historical Evolution and Comparative Research

Abstract

As China reemerges as a global economic power, the desire to invest and acquire property rights in China grows. Such acquisitions give pause to foreign investors accustomed to democratic protections against the state taking private property. Given that the Communist Party of China (CPC) holds a monopoly on political power, expropriation is an issue of international interest. Historically, protections for private property in China were limited, if not nonexistent, but recently China has begun to strengthen them. It is with this emergence that Chuanhui Wang produces his comparative study of takings law.1 Wang examines whether and how China has historically protected private property. He then compares takings law in three countries: the United States, Germany, and India. Wang uses these case studies to evaluate the current state of Chinese law and offer suggestions for how China can better protect against government takings. Wang’s overview of private property protections in China’s constitutions from 1949 to 2004 provides the background for understanding how Chinese property rights have evolved.2 While not an official constitution, the 1949 Common Program began the country’s move to a socialist property regime. It established that “bureaucratic capital” should be taken by the state, but it simultaneously protected property owned by the working class.3