Previous research has documented that gender equality in many dimensions has deteriorated in former socialist countries. This study employs Engels’ private property-monogamy thesis and discussions in the market transition debate to examine the impact of economic privatization on patrilineal practices in China’s post-socialist transition. I argue that private control over means of production gave rise to inheritance issues that were inconceivable in the socialist era and triggered an incentive for people to keep wealth, especially means of production, within the family. In China, surnames are largely passed down through male lines and marriages are mostly patrilocal. Consequently, the regained desire to practice patrilineal inheritance would inevitably result in parents’ fertility preference for sons over daughters. Using a nationally representative longitudinal dataset and exploiting variation in the timing of the change in the control over means of production, I show that private control over means of production increases the probability of having male offspring. Further analysis suggests that while male private sector employers fulfill their desire for an heir by having more births, farmers who have obtained lands due to decollectivization not only have more children but also practice sex-selective abortions. My findings explain why the sex ratio at birth has become increasingly skewed in post-socialist China. They also imply an unintended consequence of China’s economic reform — a revival of patrilineal lineage and son preference.