Article 71
"Property ownership" means the owner's rights to lawfully possess,
utilize, profit from and dispose of his property.
Article 72
Property ownership shall not be obtained in violation of the law.
Unless the law stipulates otherwise or the parties concerned have
agreed on other arrangements, the ownership of property obtained by
contract or by other lawful means shall be transferred simultaneously
with the property itself.
Article 73
State property shall be owned by the whole people.
State property is sacred and inviolable, and no organization or
individual shall be allowed to seize, encroach upon, privately divide,
retain or destroy it.
Article 74
Property of collective organizations of the working masses shall be
owned collectively by the working masses. This shall include:
(1) land, forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land,
beaches and other areas that are stipulated by law to be under
collective ownership;
(2) property of collective economic organizations;
(3) collectively owned buildings, reservoirs, farm irrigation
facilities and educational, scientific, cultural, health, sports
and other facilities; and
(4) other property that is collectively owned.
Collectively owned land shall be owned collectively by the village
peasants in accordance with the law and shall be worked and managed
by village agricultural production cooperatives, other collective
agricultural economic organizations or villages' committees. Land
already under the ownership of the township (town) peasants'
collective economic organizations may be collectively owned by the
peasants of the township (town).
Collectively owned property shall be protected by law, and no
organization or individual may seize, encroach upon, privately
divide, destroy or illegally seal up, distrain, freeze or
confiscate it.
Article 75
A citizen's personal property shall include his lawfully earned
income, housing, savings, articles for daily use, objets d'art,
books, reference materials, trees, livestock, as well as means of
production the law permits a citizen to possess and other lawful
property.
A citizen's lawful property shall be protected by law, and no
organization or individual may appropriate, encroach upon, destroy
or illegally seal up, distrain, freeze or confiscate it.
Article 76
Citizens shall have the right of inheritance under the law.
Article 77
The lawful property of social organizations, including religious
organizations, shall be protected by law.
Article 78
Property may be owned jointly by two or more citizens or legal persons.
There shall be two kinds of joint ownership, namely co-ownership
by shares and common ownership. Each of the co-owners by shares
shall enjoy the rights and assume the obligations respecting the
joint property in proportion to his share. Each of the common
owners shall enjoy the rights and assume the obligations respecting
the joint property.
Each co-owner by shares shall have the right to withdraw his own
share of the joint property or transfer its ownership. However,
when he offers to sell his share, the other co-owners shall have
a right of pre-emption if all other conditions are equal.
Article 79
If the owner of a buried or concealed object is unknown, the object
shall belong to the state. The unit that receives the object shall
commend or give a material reward to the unit or individual that
turns in the object.
Lost-and-found objects, flotsam and stray animals shall be
returned to their rightful owners, and any costs thus incurred
shall be reimbursed by the owners.
Article 80
State-owned land may be used according to law by units
under ownership by the whole people; it may also be lawfully
assigned for use by units under collective ownership. The state
shall protect the usufruct of the land, and the usufructuary
shall be obligated to manage, protect and properly use the land.
The right of citizens and collectives to contract for management
of land under collective ownership or of state-owned land under
collective use shall be protected by law. The rights and obligations
of the two contracting parties shall be stipulated in the contract
signed in accordance with the law.
Land may not be sold, leased, mortgaged or illegally transferred
by any other means.
Article 81
State-owned forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land,
beaches, water surfaces and other natural resources may be used
according to law by units under ownership by the whole people; or
they may also be lawfully assigned for use by units under collective
ownership. The state shall protect the usufruct of those resources,
and the usufructuary shall be obliged to manage, protect and properly
use them.
State-owned mineral resources may be mined according to law by
units under ownership by the whole people and units under collective
ownership; citizens may also lawfully mine such resources. The state
shall protect lawful mining rights.
The right of citizens and collectives to lawfully contract for the
management of forests, mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land,
beaches and water surfaces that are owned by collectives or owned by
the state but used by collectives shall be protected by law. The
rights and obligations of the two contracting parties shall be
stipulated in the contract in accordance with the law.
State-owned mineral resources and waters as well as forest land,
mountains, grasslands, unreclaimed land and beaches owned by the
state and those that are lawfully owned by collectives may not be
sold, leased, mortgaged or illegally transferred by any other
means.
Article 82
Enterprises under ownership by the whole people shall lawfully
enjoy the rights of management over property that the
state has authorized them to manage and operate, and the rights
shall be protected by law.
Article 83
In the spirit of helping production, making things convenient for
people's lives, enhancing unity and mutual assistance, and being
fair and reasonable, neighbouring users of real estate shall maintain
proper neighbourly relations over such matters as water supply,
drainage, passageway, ventilation and lighting. Anyone who causes
obstruction or damage to his neighbour, shall stop the infringement,
eliminate the obstruction and compensate for the damage.
Article 84
A debt represents a special relationship of rights and
obligations established between the parties concerned, either
according to the agreed terms of a contract or legal provisions.
The party entitled to the rights shall be the creditor, and the
party assuming the obligations shall be the debtor.
The creditor shall have the right to demand that the debtor
fulfil his obligations as specified by the contract or according
to legal provisions.
Article 85
A contract shall be an agreement whereby the parties establish,
change or terminate their civil relationship. Lawfully established
contracts shall be protected by law.
Article 86
When there are two or more creditors to a deal, each creditor shall
be entitled to rights in proportion to his proper share of the credit.
When there are two or more debtors to a deal, each debtor shall
assume obligations in proportion to his share of the debt.
Article 87
When there are two or more creditors or debtors to a deal, each of
the joint creditors shall be entitled to demand that the debtor
fulfil his obligations, in accordance with legal provisions or the
agreement between the parties; each of the joint debtors shall be
obliged to perform the entire debt, and the debtor who performs the
entire debt shall be entitled to ask the other joint debtors to
reimburse him for their shares of the debt.
Article 88
The parties to a contract shall fully fulfil their obligations
pursuant to the terms of the contract.
If a contract contains ambiguous terms regarding quality, time
limit for performance, place of performance, or price, and the
intended meaning cannot be determined from the context of
relevant terms in the contract, and if the parties cannot reach
an agreement through consultation, the provisions below shall
apply:
(1) If quality requirements are unclear, state quality standards
shall apply; if there are no state quality standards, generally
held standards shall apply.
(2) If the time limit for performance is unclear, the debtor may
at his convenience fulfill his obligations towards the creditor;
the creditor may also demand at any time that the debtor perform
his obligations, but sufficient notice shall be given to the
debtor.
(3) If the place of performance is unclear, and the payment is
money, the performance shall be effected at the seat or place of
residence of the party receiving the payment; if the payment is
other than money, the performance shall be effected at the seat
or place of residence of the party fulfilling the obligations.
(4) If the price agreed by the parties is unclear, the
state-fixed price shall apply. If there is no state-fixed price,
the price shall be based on market price or the price of a
similar article or remuneration for a similar service.
If the contract does not contain an agreed term regarding rights
to patent application, any party who has completed an
invention-creation shall have the right to apply for a patent.
If the contract does not contain an agreed term regarding rights to
use of technological research achievements, the parties shall all have
the right to use such achievements.
Article 89
In accordance with legal provisions or the agreement between the
parties, the performance of a debt may be guaranteed using the
methods below:
(1) A guarantor may guarantee to the creditor that the debtor
shall perform his debt. If the debtor defaults, the guarantor
shall perform the debt or bear joint liability according to
agreement. After performing the debt, the guarantor shall have
the right to claim repayment from the debtor.
(2) The debtor or a third party may offer a specific property as
a pledge. If the debtor defaults, the creditors shall be entitled
to keep the pledge to offset the debt or have priority in
satisfying his claim out of the proceeds from the sale of the
pledge pursuant to relevant legal provisions.
(3) Within the limits of relevant legal provisions, a party may
leave a deposit with the other party. After the debtor has
discharged his debt, the deposit shall either be retained as
partial payment of the debt or be returned. If the party who
leaves the deposit defaults, he shall not be entitled to demand
the return of the deposit; if the party who accepts the deposit
defaults, he shall repay the deposit in double.
(4) If a party has possession of the other party's property
according to contract and the other party violates the contract
by failing to pay a required sum of money within the specified
time limit, the possessor shall have a lien on the property and
may keep the retained property to offset the debt or have
priority in satisfying his claim out of the proceeds from the
sale of the property pursuant to relevant legal provisions.
Article 90
Legitimate loan relationships shall be protected by law.
Article 91
If a party to a contract transfers all or part of his contractual
rights or obligations to a third party, he shall obtain the other
party's consent and may not seek profits therefrom.
Contracts which according to legal provisions are subject to
state approval, such as transfers, must be approved by the
authority that originally approved the contract, unless the law
or the original contract stipulates otherwise.
Article 92
If profits are acquired improperly and without a lawful basis,
resultng in another person's loss, the illegal profits shall be
returned to the person who suffered the loss.
Article 93
If a person acts as manager or provides services in order to protect
another person's interests when he is not legally or contractually
obligated to do so, he shall be entitled to claim from the beneficiary
the expenses necessary for such assistance.
Article 94
Citizens and legal persons shall enjoy rights of authorship
(copyrights) and shall be entitled to sign their names as authors,
issue and publish their works and obtain remuneration in accordance
with the law.
Article 95
The patent rights lawfully obtained by citizens and legal persons
shall be protected by law.
Article 96
The rights to exclusive use of trademarks obtained by legal persons,
individual businesses and individual partnerships shall be protected
by law.
Article 97
Citizens who make discoveries shall be entitled to the rights of
discovery. A discoverer shall have the right to apply for and receive
certificates of discovery, bonuses or other awards.
Citizens who make inventions or other achievements in scientific
and technological research shall have the right to apply for and
receive certificates of honour, bonuses or other awards.
Article 98
Citizens shall enjoy the rights of life and health.
Article 99
Citizens shall enjoy the right of personal name and shall be
entitled to determine, use or change their personal names in
accordance with relevant provisions. Interference with, usurpation
of and false representation of personal names shall be prohibited.
Legal persons, individual businesses and individual partnerships
shall enjoy the right of name. Enterprises as legal persons,
individual businesses and individual partnerships shall have the
right to use and lawfully assign their own names.
Article 100
Citizens shall enjoy the right of portrait.
The use of a citizen's portrait for profit without his consent
shall be prohibited.
Article 101
Citizens and legal persons shall enjoy the right of reputation. The
personality of citizens shall be protected by law, and the use of
insults, libel or other means to damage the reputation of citizens
or legal persons shall be prohibited.
Article 102
Citizens and legal persons shall enjoy the right of honour. It shall
be prohibited to unlawfully divest citizens and legal persons of
their honorary titles.
Article 103
Citizens shall enjoy the right of marriage by choice. Mercenary
marriages, marriages upon arbitrary decision by any third party and
any other acts of interferrence in the freedom of marriage shall be
prohibited.
Article 104
Marriage, the family, old people, mothers and children shall be
protected by law.
The lawful rights and interests of the handicapped shall be protected
by law.
Article 105
Women shall enjoy equal civil rights with men.
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