„Kaufverträge“ über Immobilien in China: Das Oberste Volksgericht tritt für die Rechte der Immobilienerwerber ein und weist Bauträger in die Schranken ('Contracts for the Sale of Real Estate' in the PR China: The Supreme People's Court Stands Up for the Rights of Real Estate Purchasers and Restrains the Powers of Commercial Housing Developers)

Journal of Chinese Law (ZChinR), Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 116-139, June 2011

Max Planck Private Law Research Paper No. 11/8

34 Pages Posted: 24 Jun 2011 Last revised: 9 May 2015

See all articles by Knut Benjamin Pissler

Knut Benjamin Pissler

Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law

Date Written: June 22, 2011

Abstract

The Chinese real estate market is growing rapidly and the prices for real estate are rising steadily. It is therefore of little surprise that the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) of the PR China had to deal quite early with questions arising in the lower courts in relation to the purchase of real estate. In 2003 the SPC issued a judicial interpretation to help lower courts adjudicate cases involving the purchase of real estate. Although the interpretation’s title indicates that the SPC is dealing with “contracts for the sale of real estate”, the scope of its provisions also encompasses certain aspects of another type of contract, i.e. contracts for work and labor between the purchaser and the developer of commercial housing. The interpretation consequently regulates problems of so-called “pre-purchase contracts”, where a purchaser “buys” parts of a building still to be constructed by a developer. These problems result partly from the requirement in Chinese public law that the developer obtain permission to conclude such “pre-purchase contracts”, a fact that gives rise to the question whether this contract is deemed to be void if permission was not granted. Other provisions in the interpretation adapt the general rules on sales contracts in the Chinese Contract Law to the special needs of contracts for the sale of real estate, e.g. giving the developer the right to rectify defects before the purchaser is allowed to rescind the contract and stipulating a special remedy (not provided by Chinese sales law) in the event that the size of the purchased real estate does not correspond to the size agreed upon in the contract. Other focuses of the SPC are regulating multiple sales of real estate and strengthening the rights of residents who have been resettled due to a demolition of their houses in the context of urban development measures.

Note: Downloadable document is in German.

Suggested Citation

Pissler, Knut Benjamin, „Kaufverträge“ über Immobilien in China: Das Oberste Volksgericht tritt für die Rechte der Immobilienerwerber ein und weist Bauträger in die Schranken ('Contracts for the Sale of Real Estate' in the PR China: The Supreme People's Court Stands Up for the Rights of Real Estate Purchasers and Restrains the Powers of Commercial Housing Developers) (June 22, 2011). Journal of Chinese Law (ZChinR), Vol. 18, No. 2, pp. 116-139, June 2011, Max Planck Private Law Research Paper No. 11/8, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1871763

Knut Benjamin Pissler (Contact Author)

Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law ( email )

Mittelweg 187
Hamburg, D-20148
Germany

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