ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the Chinese real estate professionals operate against a legally uncertain background. The Law on the Administration of Urban Real Estate became effective in 1995, and the Guaranty Law was implemented in the same year. China's legal development has thus been an ongoing back-and-forth among several different interest groups. Legislators wish to continue to improve China's economic landscape without challenging and perhaps even by endorsing business and legal practices that have already been adopted with apparent success. In particular, a legal system must offer strong and predictable property rights if it wishes to foster significant economic development. Informal norms, then, can be extremely strong, particularly when they must substitute for an official legal structure that is not up to the task of meeting public demand. The exercise of freedom is mediated by values, but the values in turn are influenced by public discussions and social interactions, which are themselves influenced by participatory freedoms.
