The China Real Estate Association has launched an index that tracks the development of the long-term rental property sector and predicts the sector's future development trend.

The index, released quarterly by the association, tracks the three main aspects of enterprises offering long-term rental services, namely growth potential, business scale and profitability, according to the association.

The full score of the index is set at 100, with the inaugural issue of the index showing a reading of 54.53, which indicates the huge growth potential of the sector's development in the future.

Introducing the launch of the index, the vice president of the association Zhang Qiguang said that the sound development of the property rental sector plays an important role in meeting the housing demand of those in need, especially young people and newcomers in cities.

"Long-term rental housing is an important part of market-oriented rental housing. There is currently no systematic quantitative evaluation system for the sector. So the launch of the index will bear great significance for the development of China's housing rental market," Zhang said.

The association, headquartered in Beijing, is a non-profit social organization that promotes research and discussions on the development and reform of the real estate sector.