Property law offers no protection to illegally-obtained assets: experts

China's legal experts on Tuesday said the Property Law, in its seventh reading at an ongoing legislative session, will offer no protection for illegally-obtained assets.

According to provisions in the draft property law, only legally-obtained assets are protected by law. Illegally-obtained assets enjoy no legal protection, said legal experts.

The 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has been endeavoring to improve laws concerning the protection of private assets.

In 2004, the clause "legally-obtained private property of citizens shall not be violated" was written into China's Constitution.

In 2006, the sixth plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee decided to pay more attention to social equality. The Party and government will strive to help low-income earners, expand the middle-class, contain excessively high incomes and outlaw illegally-obtained income, so as to realize common prosperity.

Legal experts said citizens' private assets are accumulating. The effective protection of citizens' private assets conforms to the spirit of the Constitution and the ruling Party's views, and is also in line with citizens' aspirations.

As part of the draft civil code, the property bill was submitted to the NPC Standing Committee for first review as early as 2002.

The draft was further revised to install state ownership at the heart of the economic system after 15,000 suggestions were collected from the public. It also added measures to prevent fraudulent acquisitions and mergers of state assets. It is now going through an unprecedented seventh reading.

The draft property law stipulates that state, collective and private property rights are protected by law and may not be violated by organizations and individuals.

At the ongoing session of the 10th NPC Standing Committee, China's lawmakers unanimously agreed to table the draft property law to the fifth full session of the 10th National People's Congress (NPC) for deliberation, because the draft is now mature. The NPC usually holds its full session in March.

During the panel discussion on Monday, lawmakers agreed that the draft law, which "moves in the correct political direction" and reflects national realities, conforms to China's fundamental economic system.

Source: Xinhua