The number of complaints lodged with the Ministry of
Construction has skyrocketed. More complaints related to homes
demolished to make way for property developments were filed in the
first half of this year than in all of 2003.
"As of June 22, about 18,620 people contacted the Ministry of
Construction to appeal for help. That has already surpassed the
total last year of 18,071 people," says a Beijing News
report.
The ministry confirmed that in the first quarter of this year,
the number of complaints was triple that of the same period in the
previous year.
A similar situation has developed at the Ministry of Land
and Resources. Most of the complaints there are from farmers
upset that their farmland had been taken away for other
business.
The State Council said last month that China would demolish far
fewer buildings this year to cut down on widespread and sometimes
violent protests.
"Construction authorities should have had a clear mind towards
the abnormal housing boom. In that period, half of the demand for
land was met by demolishing old buildings," Vice Minister of
Construction Fu Wenjuan told the Beijing News.
She attributed the growing number of complaints to increased
urban construction, which has led to a rise in the demolition of
old buildings.
"Some regional housing projects have exceeded local economic
growth and local demand as well," Fu said.
As a result, some newly built urban public facilities have never
been used; the land and money spent was wasted.
"Problems have thus been triggered by local authorities who
borrow money for such construction," she said.
Adding insult to injury, some local governments or companies
affiliated with them have reduced compensation for residents forced
to move, or forced them to move quickly.
"This hurts the credibility of the entire society," Fu
warned.
The ministry started moving to allay fears of a collapse in
China's booming property market, saying prices would continue to
rise gradually during the rest of the year.
Xie Jiajin, director of the ministry's property department, said
on China Central Television that the property sector was "returning
to a rational path" and that there was no possibility of a market
collapse.
Xie's remarks came after figures were released showing a slight
slowdown in the growth in property investment and prices.
The rise in real estate investment in the first five months of
this year was 2.6 percentage points lower than that of the
January-April period.
The increase in the total area of newly developed land
throughout China in the first five months was 12.4 percentage
points lower than that of the first four months.
New residential construction starts slipped 0.6 points compared
to the January-April period.
Although the average price of residential property in big cities
like Shanghai
and Beijing
remained high, Xie blamed earlier price increases on speculative
buying.
She predicted residential property prices would grow steadily in
the coming months, pushed by strong demand from people buying
properties to live in rather than for speculation.
To hold back the rapidly developing sector, at the beginning of
the year China began putting in place measures to tighten loans
extended by banks to the sector, control land supply and restrict
demolitions.
(China Daily July 6, 2004)