China's property landed in trouble

China's State Council has approved a change in property laws that could be hard on land-grabbing local governments and on developers - but good for hundreds of millions of long-suffering farmers

China's decade-long real estate boom has been built on a nationwide land grab that's seen millions of farmers kicked off their land with little or no compensation.

Local governments are the main beneficiaries. Last year alone, they racked up a cool one trillion yuan ($161bn) in net land sales - equal to about 10% of total revenue.

WSJ Logo
Pro Bono or Pro Nono? Law Firms Split on Fulfilling Deals With TrumpExternal link

Pro Bono or Pro Nono? Law Firms Split on Fulfilling Deals With Trump