China is working on the draft of a law on the protection of private property, which proposes that the state protect personal deposits, investments and profits generated from such investments.
The move marks an important legal step forward in guaranteeing the private property of Chinese citizens, after the Chinese Communist Party last month promised in its 16th National Congress "universal protection of lawful income from or out of work".
The new stipulations appeared in the volume on property under the draft civil code tabled with the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, on Monday.
"To further improve the legal system on the protection of private property, the law says that all the basic principles and provisions on the protection of property apply to the possessions of citizens and other non-public property," said Gu Angran, director of the Legal Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, when explaining the draft law to lawmakers.
The law on property is a crucial part of the civil law system, which deals with a person or legal entity's right to dispose of movables and real estate property.
The formulation of such a law is essential to the common development of economic components, and a powerful stimulus to create wealth, said Wang Jiafu, a senior expert of civil law in China and one of the drafters of the law.
The role of property rights was abolished in China during the planned economy, and productive forces and people's creativeness used to be suppressed, he said.
The ultimate goal of the legislation is to protect and consolidate the material interests of workers and enterprises, and thus arouse the enthusiasm of people to create, take good care of and accumulate wealth, and to propel the rapid development of Chinese economy, Wang said.
"The property rights are an important part of human rights, and the law of property will serve to advance China's human rights causes, as well," he said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2002)
