Beijing, March 25:

Chinese president Hu Jintao has hailed a new law protecting private property as a boon to the legal system, state media said Sunday, in the highest-level endorsement yet of the controversial legislation.

“It is an important step forward for the formation of a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics,” Hu was quoted as telling members of the Communist Party elite, according to the People’s Daily.

“It is a significant move towards implementing the basic strategy of governing the country according to law,” the president and Communist Party leader said.

Hu told officials to take the lead in studying the law and to ensure its implementation would help create “a more fair and open market order.” The article was the main front-page item in the Communist Party mouthpiece, signalling the priority that the leadership attaches to promoting the law and, possibly, silencing its critics.

The Property Law, which guarantees protection for the state-owned, the collective and the private sectors, triggered unprecedented debate before being passed by the legislature earlier this month.

It went through a record 13 years of debate, passed seven readings and had been the subject of criticism and proposals from 47 government departments and 11,500 members of the public.

Old-school Marxists have been its most fierce opponents, arguing the law is a sell-out pushing China dangerously close to capitalism.