China.

The People’s Republic of China imposes no inheritance, estate, or gift tax under current law, although periodic political discussion of an inheritance tax has not produced legislation. The 中华人民共和国民法典 (Civil Code, in force 1 January 2021) consolidated succession law in Book 6 (Articles 1119–1163), preserving statutory shares for the surviving spouse, children, and parents under Article 1127 in the absence of a will.

Cross-border issues for Chinese estates centre on foreign-exchange controls under SAFE regulations, the State Administration of Taxation’s annual $50,000 individual quota for outbound remittance, and the limited mobility of Chinese-resident assets. Hong Kong and Macau operate under separate legal systems and tax regimes. The 涉外民事关系法律适用法 (Private International Law Act 2010) determines applicable succession law, with Article 31 generally applying the law of the decedent’s habitual residence to movable property and the lex situs to immovable property.

The memoranda in this series address the recurring fact patterns in Chinese cross-border estate planning — including SAFE-quota repatriation of inheritance proceeds, recognition of foreign wills before Chinese notaries, real-property succession constraints for foreigners, the QFLP and Stock Connect regimes for cross-border family-investment vehicles, and the absence of estate-tax treaties with Canada and the United States.