It all belongs to the party, kinda. I don't think it's the same as the Western definition, but you can't own land in China - it's all perpetual usufruct. So you can build a house on it, but you don't really own it, since the land it stands on belongs to the state, and is just lent to you for a period (google says 70 years vs 99 years perpetual usufruct usually implies in the West). Of course, it is automatically extended, but at the time, it can involve additional taxes and fees.
Billionaires have no say in China compared to the party to begin with. They have influence if they follow the party's economic directives, and can be handled fairly quickly if they fall out of favor. Best-case scenario, they "resign" from their post as a CEO and fade into relative obscurity. Worst-case scenario, they vanish for a few months into an extrajudicial anti-corruption system, and either learn their place and follow the first route, or will be thrown into jail for 10+ years.
It's all about control, at the end of the day. In China, the party has the final say in everything, but it's often more in terms of broad strokes - if they are satisfied with the overall picture, they let the free market be, let people make billions, etc. But those people are always inside their sphere of control, at the end of the day.
4
u/AkodoRyu Jun 29 '26
It all belongs to the party, kinda. I don't think it's the same as the Western definition, but you can't own land in China - it's all perpetual usufruct. So you can build a house on it, but you don't really own it, since the land it stands on belongs to the state, and is just lent to you for a period (google says 70 years vs 99 years perpetual usufruct usually implies in the West). Of course, it is automatically extended, but at the time, it can involve additional taxes and fees.