China Passes Landmark Property Rights Law

Urban middle-class apartment owners...are the biggest winners today, after the National People's Congress passage of China's first law codifying the protection of private property. Analysts say the legislation theoretically puts state and private ownership on equal footing...

Experts say the law recognizes homeowner associations, gives residents rights to common areas and provides more tools for fighting developers....What the legislation does is give legal status to market-oriented changes long evident in Chinese society, benefiting a class of people who are most capable of organizing and may one day challenge the Communist Party's hold on power...

.The law does not address protections for poorly educated and weakly organized farmers whom corrupt officials are forcing off rural land in growing numbers."