Direct answer

Default is what was acquired during the marriage — not ‘everything either spouse ever owned’.

Under the Civil Code, property acquired during the marriage is generally community property (wages, business returns, investment gains, and similar), owned jointly and managed equally. Separate property includes pre-marital assets, gifts or inheritances given to one spouse only, and other statutory items. Re-characterisation happens when separate funds buy a home or a company share — those are related pages pages. A marital-property agreement can change the default. This page is the definition layer. City property-division blogs and the national guide stay on their URLs.

The classification screen

4 questions before you choose the route.

This page identifies the right question and evidence. It does not determine the legal outcome on a reader’s facts.

01

When was it acquired?

Before vs during marriage.

When
02

Was it gifted/inherited to one person?

Separate if clearly so.

Source
03

Is there a written agreement?

Prenup or mid-marriage deal.

Deal
04

Is it a house or equity?

Open the division related pages.

Type

Working rule: Map the regulated role before marketing or launch in China.

What changes the answer

The signal ledger.

These facts move the question beyond a label and into a product, money-flow and control analysis.

Signal
Ask the operating question
Why it changes the route
Name on title = owner
Only his name on the deed.
Title is evidence, not the whole Civil Code test.
Parents paid, so separate
Maybe — depends how it was documented.
Open real-estate related pages.
Offshore account invisible
Assume PRC court cannot see it.
Disclosure and tracing still matter.
Prepare before you escalate

Bring a compact evidence docket—not a pitch deck.

Give a compliance team or counsel the operating facts that reveal the perimeter.

01Marriage dateClock for ‘during marriage’.
02Acquisition papersDeeds, bank, equity ledgers.
03Any property agreementPrenup or Civil Code agreement.
Common confusions

Questions people ask before they build.

Short answers for orientation. The right result can change with the service model and current rules.

Are salaries community property?

Generally yes, if earned during the marriage, unless a valid agreement says otherwise.

Where is the long property guide?

Cross border divorce property division china and /china-divorce-family-law. This page is the default rule.

Primary authorities

Reviewed sources support orientation, not a fact-specific assessment.

PRC Civil Code (NPC laws database)
Supreme People’s Court
Gov.cn
National laws database (NPC)