Property Registration System in China: Theory, Practice and Future Challenges

Abstract

This article aims to provide a general understanding of Chinese property registration system combining an institutional analysis with a selected case study. By conducting a case study, it attempts to assess the extent to which the property registration system is considered appropriate and effective by the market users and legal actors responsible for enforcing it. However, this article is not a quantitative study in the sense that collecting empirical data to examine black-letter provisions’ application relative to objective performance indicators. It attempts to depict a general picture of the system by answering the following questions: whether Chinese property registration system is a mandatory registration system or voluntary recordation system? What is its property transfer theory underpinning the system of land registration? How close it is related to Torrens system? The answers will be provided in Part B and C of this paper. In the remaining sections, a survey carried out in Qingdao on Qingdao’s registration system will be presented with the aim to illustrate the functionality of the property registration system in China.