The Civil Code – Property - General Rules

(These clauses are selected from The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China translated and authored by Steve Li and Robert Zhang, international arbitration lawyers registered in Shanghai, China, and published by Kindle Unlimited. No reproduction is allowed unless authorized by the authors.)
 
Chapter IV General Rules
Article 240 The owner of real or personal property shall be entitled to possess, use, profit from, and dispose of its property according to law.
Article 241 The owner of real or personal property shall be entitled to create usufructs and security interests in its property. The exercise of any usufruct or security interest shall not damage the rights or interests of the owner.
Article 242 No entity or individual may acquire the ownership of any real or personal property exclusively owned by the State according to law.
Article 243 Lands owned by collective entities or premises or any other real properties owned by entities or individuals may be expropriated for public purposes in accordance with the authority and procedure specified by law.
For collectively-owned lands that are expropriated, land compensations, resettlement subsidies, and compensation for the villagers' dwellings, other reals on the land, and young crops shall be paid in full and in a timely manner, and social-security payments shall be arranged for the villagers as the tenants of the expropriated lands to guarantee their livelihood and safeguard their legitimate rights and interests.
For premises or any other real properties owned by entities or individuals that are expropriated, compensations shall be paid according to law to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the owners of the expropriated real properties, and residential arrangements shall also be made for individuals whose residences are expropriated.
No entity or individual may peculate, misappropriate, embezzle, withhold, or defer payment of any compensation for expropriation or any other payments.
Article 244 The State shall take special measures to protect cultivated land and shall strictly restrict the diversion of land for agriculture into land for construction to control the total amount of land used for construction. No collectively-owned land shall be expropriated unless the authority and procedure specified by law are complied with.
Article 245 The real or personal property of any entity or individual may be requisitioned for emergency rescue, disaster relief, epidemic prevention and control, and any other emergency needs according to the authority and procedure specified by law. After the requisitioned real or personal property is used, it shall be returned to the entity or individual from whom it was requisitioned. In case of damage to or loss of any requisitioned real or personal property during or after the requisition, compensation shall be paid to the entity or individual from whom it was requisitioned.