The price of China's urban land is expected to rise steadily in
2004, according to a report released by the Ministry of Land and
Resources on Monday.
Since China's GDP is forecast to grow 7 percent this year,
urbanization will accelerate and real estate investment and demand
will surge, the report says.
The government will strictly control land supplies this year,
and the transformation of farmland into construction sites will be
restrained, the report says.
Land price rises in major cities will accord with local economic
development and should not go up by large margins this year.
In 2003, the average land price rose 8.8 percent on the Yangtze
River Delta, whose GDP grew over 11 percent. Land prices edged up
1.8 percent on the Zhujiang River Delta, whose GDP grew over 14
percent in the year.
The increase in China's land prices is rational and the stable
level effectively prevents bubbles in the real estate industry, the
report says.
(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2004)