ABSTRACT
In 1988, China amended of its Constitution to read, The right to the use of land may be transferred in accordance with the law. The issue of registration of land use rights merits further attention, in light of the 2007 Property Rights Law. The new Property Rights Law appears to require the government to renew the land use right, at least for residential property. For residential property, the right should be renewable at little or no cost. In effect, the holder of the land use right would end up owning an interest that is similar to fee simple title in common law countries. There is a deal of discord between the proclivity of municipalities and provinces to raise needed funds by selling off land use rights and the primary objective of the central government, which is to maintain social stability on a nation wide basis.
