China took a significant step towards economic liberalisation earlier this year with sweeping new laws to grant private property rights. The National People’s Congress (NPC) finally rubber stamped proposals that had been 14 years in the making – drafted, redrafted and honed – heralding a victory for advocates of the free market.
Three decades after leaders of the world’s most populous country began to devolve central planning, the NPC waved through the landmark property bill and another to end tax privileges for foreign companies. The move offers China’s emerging middle class a chance for better legal protection against government interference, and foreign investors the prospect of renewed incentives to help build a robust urban infrastructure.
