Urban land reform in China

The emergence of a ‘socialist market economy’ in China leads to a growing demand for land use reform. The focal point of the reform is how to convert a centrally planned system to a market-oriented system. This paper examines the process of urban land reform, the instruments and outcomes of the reform to date. It aims to help understand how ideological and political factors influence the formulation of the land system and to show the interaction of political and economic forces during the transition from plan to market.