You still own the building/apartment. The lease is for the land and will be renewed once it ends.
And this depends on where you are. Urban land is publicly owned. Even if it wasn't, you still need a mechanism to seize land. China doesn't have to wait for a lease to end to do this, just as the US can seize any property they want. This is just how it works anywhere. Property ownership isn't some eternal category, it is always at the whim of the state.
The difference between how someone in China owns their home and how someone owns their home in the US is similar in practice. But in China you don't pay property taxes lol.
You still own the building/apartment. The lease is for the land and will be renewed once it ends.
And this depends on where you are. Urban land is publicly owned. Even if it wasn't, you still need a mechanism to seize land. China doesn't have to wait for a lease to end to do this, just as the US can seize any property they want. This is just how it works anywhere. Property ownership isn't some eternal category, it is always at the whim of the state.
The difference between how someone in China owns their home and how someone owns their home in the US is similar in practice. But in China you don't pay property taxes lol.