【正文】 s contributions should be recognized in other ways, such as allowing her to remain in the marital home until she remarries or acquires her own home, or in the form of alimony support. Although the draft revision of the marriage law included this debated provision reclassifying prenuptial property as joint property after eight years, the Chinese government ultimately opted for a more individualistic policy of keeping each party39。s nonmonetary contributions to a marriage, such as housekeeping and childrearing. Proponents also argued that the establishment of specific times for this transfer of property simplified the process of marital property division during a divorce. Those opposing its inclusion accepted the value of the woman39。Separate property owned by either party to a marriage before the marriage and jointly used, run and managed by both parties to the marriage after the marriage, after eight years in the case of houses and other means of production with higher value or four years in the case of valuable means of consumption, might be deemed as munity property. Additionally, if a couple made improvements (., renovations, furnishings, or reconstruction) within eight years of marriage on a residence purchased by and registered to one party prior to the marriage, that party retained title but had to reimburse the other party for any contributions during divorce proceedings. Where houses purchased with loans by either party became munity property, the resulting debts incurred by either party were also deemed to be munity debts. In addition to reclassifying property after a certain term of marriage, the 1993 Opinion instructed lower courts on the proper division of munity property during a divorce. First, the SPC remended a presumption of munity property for cases of ambiguity. Next, munity property was to be evenly distributed during divorce, with special attention to the actual needs of production or livelihood, the source of such property and other circumstances. The SPC also remended that a house that could not be divided for separate use be distributed on the basis of housing conditions of both parties ... [with] due consideration... to the childrearing party or the nonfaulting party, with pensation to the nonpossessing party. Lastly, the SPC remended that if the circumstances of both parties are equal, then more consideration shall be given [to] the female party. During the process of revising the marriage law, the Chinese government debated the inclusion of the 1993 Opinion39。s silence, judges were forced to base decisions of marital property allocation on policy, or even socialist morality as a last resort. This practice inevitably led to conflicting judgments across China.3. The Certain Specific Opinions of the SPC on the Disposition of Property Settlement Issues Involved in the Trial of Divorce Cases by People39。s movement toward a market economy had also changed Chinese society39。s explosive economic and social development in the years following the enactment of the 1980 Marriage Law amplified these problems of judicial application. When China opened its doors to foreign businesses in 1978, it instituted an aggressive program of reforms to meet the demands associated with the country39。s instruction to the courts on how to divide marital property during a divorce: in the absence of an agreement by the parties, the people39。s social, economic, and political environment in the thirty years following the founding of the PRC in 1949 necessitated updates to the law to meet the new needs of Chinese marriages and families. In 1980, China enacted a new marriage law as part of the wave of new reforms to rebuild the legal system that was destroyed by the Cultural Revolution. The new 1980 Marriage Law that emerged reflected the government39。s history makes it difficult to ascertain how the law worked in practice, the 1950 Marriage Law was ideologically progressive for its time in advancing gender equality and freedom of choice. 2. The 1980 Marriage Law of the PRC (2) all property acquired during marriage throu