Introduction
To some foreign companies, doing business in China is very difficult. Besides the language and cultural difference, the concerns facing foreign businesses may range from the not-so-transparent laws and regulations, the bureaucratic agencies, to the complicated taxation system. Despite these problems, China has made a huge progress forward since it opened its door to the outside world in late 1970's and embraced a market-oriented economy after being ruled under the central controlled system for almost 30 years. Few people in China would have thought about owing their homes ten years ago. Now, with a private home ownership approaching to 60 percent in urban area, China is perhaps the most successful country in the world to have developed a private housing market in such a short period of time. This article is intended to help foreign-based real estate practitioners better understand China and the Chinese market. Issues such as China's economic development, WTO's accession, laws/regulations, mortgages/loans, business forms, government agencies, and taxation system, etc. are addressed along with some statistical data from various resources.
Economic Development
Shortly after the new government was founded in 1949, almost all of China's private or individual-owned farms were collectivized into large communes. Private ownership of housing in the urban areas was nearly extinguished. In order to support the fast industrialization, the central government invested heavily in the 1960s and 1970s. A large share of the country's economic output was arranged and controlled by the government. It set production goals, controlled prices, and allocated resources throughout most of the economy. As a result, by 1978 nearly three-fourths of industrial productio ...