| State Ownership of Natural Resources stipulated under Chinese Constitution is not a concept of ownership exclusively belonging to the public law. Its content consists of three levels. The first level is the private right as same as the ownership defined under the Real Rights Law. The second level is the public powers to be exercised on the matter of natural resources, including the power of legislation, the power of administrative management, and the power of distribution. The third level is the constitutional duty which requires the State to use his private right and public powers on the behalf of the whole people. The Public Trust Doctrine, a perfect statement of the constitutional duty of the State as the owner of natural resources, ought to be introduced into China, or Article 9 of Chinese Constitution ought to be interpreted under the Public Trust Doctrine to clarify the statuses of the State and the People in the structure of State Ownership of Natural Resources.In the reality of China, the weakest level of State Ownership of Natural Resources is the State's constitutional duty. The scheme of "People Fund of Natural Resources" is a significant attempt that China can follow. Due to its characteristic as an Incomplete Norm, State Ownership of Natural Resources stipulated under Chinese Constitution finds difficulties to be transformed into the specific real right provided under the Real Rights Law. In the present situation where Chinese constitutional regulation system remains unsound, the civil law doctrine of interpretation is expected to play a quasi-constitutional function to control the arbitrary expansion and distortion of State Ownership of Natural Resources. |
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