1. Untying the land knot: Turning investment challenges into opportunities for all citizens
- Author:
- Xiaofang Shen
- Publication Date:
- 11-2012
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
- Abstract:
- China, 1980s. Newly embarked on its economic transformation, China opened to foreign direct investment (FDI) to obtain capital, technology and access to world markets. Investors hesitated, however, since national law prohibited access to state-owned land. In reaction, the government introduced a long-term lease system, first tested in special economic zones and later applied across the country. This approach enabled China's phenomenal success in attracting FDI in the years to come; it also paved the way for 500 million urban citizens to gain property rights, which in turn inspired the rural population to ask for the same rights today.
- Topic:
- Development, Economics, Emerging Markets, and International Trade and Finance
- Political Geography:
- China