New Registration Measures Provide Clarity for China Land Owners

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clpstaff &clp articles

With the new Land Registration Measures introduced in February the PRC Ministry of Land Resources is making a huge step towards bringing clarity and buyer protection to what has, over the last two decades, become a complicated and confusing procedure for the registration of property. In its enthusiasm to bring about constructive change, however, the central government may find its announced implementation of the new Measures to be a bit ambitious.

The Land Registration Measures (Measures), which come into effect on July 1 2008, are, in fact, the implementation rules of the relevant provisions under the Property Law. Thus, the Measures should be considered together with the existing PRC Property Law(中华人民共和国物权法).

In the past Chinese law has viewed land and the interests in buildings on that land as separate items of ownership. Thus, under the current Land Registration Rules issued by the previous State Land Management Bureau in 1995, there are separate registration systems in place. In most areas this means that registrations for land and buildings requires two separate registration procedures at separate municipal authorities, resulting in widespread confusion, disputes and even illegal property transfers.

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