China Approves Law Protecting Private Property Rights

In follow up to Saturday’s post on the Withering Away of Communism China, The New York Times has a report on the expansion of private property rights:

After more than a quarter-century of market-oriented economic policies and record-setting growth, China on Friday enacted its first law to protect private property explicitly.

The measure, which was delayed a year ago amid vocal opposition from resurgent socialist intellectuals and old-line, left-leaning members of the ruling Communist Party, is viewed by its supporters as building a new and more secure legal foundation for private entrepreneurs and the country’s urban middle-class home and car owners.

China still has a long way to go towards developing liberal democracy, but the move to legally protect property rights is a move in the right direction, and suggests that the risk of backslding towards socialism has been reduced.

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