MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

China finally passes landmark property rights law

China's People Congress (NPC) by a surprising majority approved this week landmark legislation increasing private property rights following years of debate inside the Chinese Communist Party. At the end of the day only 90 of the 2.978 deputies voted against the law.

China's leaders have been struggling for decades to enact a law to cover private assets - seen an important step away from Communist collective ownership and towards a market economy. But some legislators feared that while the new property law would undoubtedly increase protection for home owners and prevent land seizures, it would also erode China's socialist principles. Others feared the bill would turn legitimate "insufficiently transparent" or "illegal" privatization of government owned companies and assets. NPC also approved a bill ending preferential tax treatment for foreign firms, setting a standard rate of 25%. The tax legislation - designed to wean China off an export-driven economy dominated by the manufacture of cheap goods - was passed with only slightly less support. Premier Wen Jiabao ended the session as he had begun it last week, promising a move to more sustainable growth. He also raised issues such as corruption, regional ties and international fears over China's military build-up. The Congress meets just once a year and is largely a rubber stamp to endorse the policies of the ruling Communist Party. NPC Standing Committee Chairman Wu Bangguo hailed the session as "a great success" at the closing meeting. The property law showed the spirit of reform and opening up of China, since it protects the order of the socialist market economy and grants equal protection to public and private property, said Wang Shengming, vice president of the Commission of Legislative Affairs from the NPC Standing Committee. In China all the land belongs to the state. Lu Jianzhong, NPC deputy and chairman of Shaanxi Jiaxin Group, said the corporate income tax law, which puts domestic and foreign-funded enterprises on an equal footing for income taxes for the first time since China's opening up began in 1978, brings China's economy more in line with international practice. Legislators also discussed a wide variety of other issues during the two-week NPC meeting, with one key theme being Mr Wen Jiabao's promise to focus more on sustainable development than rapid economic growth. As he closed the session Wen Jiabao emphasized that "the priorities now are promoting equality in education opportunities, adopting progressive employment policies, narrowing income gaps and building social security networks." Increasing equality is of vital concern to the Communist Party. There are insistent reports that protests over the growing income differentials, exacerbated by rising corruption, are threatening its control over the rural hinterland. Wen Jiabao also promised more reforms to crack down on corruption, especially that involving high-ranking officials. He blamed the increase in graft on an "over-concentration of power without effective and proper restraint and oversight", and promised to address the issue as a priority. In terms of foreign affairs Wen Jiabao said he hoped his visit to Japan in April would be an "ice-thawing" trip, following a period of tensions between the two nations over their wartime past. He insisted that China's military expansion posed no threat to other countries - despite international concern over its military growth