The Chinese Ministry of Construction has called for more
governmental efforts to guide house prices when developing small
and medium-sized houses for residential need.
The government should set limits on house sizes and prices when
picking developers in public bidding for those housing projects,
said Minister of Construction Wang Guangtao recently.
"We have learnt from past experience that we can't solve the
problem of social injustice by only relying on the market mechanism
in housing, which is a basic human right and social guarantee,"
said Wang.
Official statistics showed that the average price of newly-built
commercial residential houses in 70 large- and medium-sized Chinese
cities gained 6.1 percent year on year last month, with the
southern metropolis Shenzhen recording the highest growth of 10.2
percent.
The ministry has committed itself to extending the low-rent
housing system to cover all cities and counties by the end of this
year.
The supply of low-priced affordable houses will be improved and
regulated to benefit low-income families, said Wang.
China has 1.56 million urban families with no access to adequate
affordable housing, most of whom still live in overcrowded and
dilapidated homes, according to a report released by the China
Society for Urban Studies.
(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2007)