A Chinese Cabinet official announced that Beijing is set to invest US$200 billion this year to build 10 million low-cost housing units, in a move to spread the proceeds of economic growth to the poor and to regulate staggering speculation.
Qi Ji, the Deputy Housing Minister, said that the 10 million housing units slated for this year are in line with the 36 million low-cost homes to be built within the next five years.
Amid the political rift between the rich and poor, Beijing has implemented measures such as higher wages and subsidies to narrow the gap. Property speculation has been a government concern, even with economic growth reaching 10.3 percent last year.
“In the next few years, we are going to significantly improve housing conditions for urban middle- and low-income families, newly employed workers and migrants,” Mr Qi said.
Newly built housing increased dramatically in Beijing, Shanghai, Haiku, Yueyang and Ganzhou at 6.8 percent, 1.5 percent, 21.6 percent, 14.2 percent, and 12.3 respectively, in January versus last year’s figures.
Cities such as Shanghai and Chongqing imposed property sales tax to lessen profiteering, in addition to raising the minimum required down payments, limiting mortgage lending for second homes and barring certain buyers in curbing speculation