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Q: When you purchase property in China, is it true that it is only for 50 or 70 years?
I have been told by many that when you purchase a new property it is only for 50 or 70 years. What happens when the time runs out. What happens if I buy one that is 20 years old, does that mean it will run out after another 30 years. In my country once you buy a property you own it and your share of the land it is on. You can keep it forever or pass it on as an inheritance for your children. I am trying to understand how this all works in China.
Would you like to buy some good swamp land in Florida? 
As far as I know, property leases in China last for 99 years. There is no individual property ownership per se, as technically all land in China is owned by China and managed by the government. This is called "land tenure". Under Chinese law however, there are "private property" rights. If you have a home on some property, you can pass it down to children or family, but the leases will need to be renewed after a specific time subject to government approval.
My understanding is that if you were to purchase a building/house, it won't matter how old it is, you're leasing the property it sits on. You'd technically "own" the building but you lease the property. I believe however long it is (99 years or 70 years, etc.) starts from when you lease the land. I do know that leases can be renewed.
There are discussions in China about how/what to do when the term is up but no government decision has been made as what to do after the term is up. Consensus is that the government won't take your property back but most likely the property owners will have to pay certain fee/taxes, may not be very high, to the government.
Thank you. That confirms the answer I got when I asked people. Most were not worried about it because the term would outlive them and so it wasn't an issue. I was just curious. When a property is passed on to a child for example does the term start again?
