Trial operations of a property tax will be launched in Shanghai and Chongqing early next year, according to the Economic Observer, which cited unidentified "authoritative" sources.

In Chongqing, the tax will be mainly levied on high-end apartments and villas while in Shanghai only newly purchased homes will be charged and the average per capita living space will be taken into consideration, according to the newspaper report.

Meanwhile, the People's Daily published a half-page article yesterday, saying that a property tax would help curb housing prices, though its impact would be limited in the medium to long term.