Premier Wen vows realty shake-up
- Source: Global Times
- [02:51 December 28 2009]
- Comments
Potential buyers inspect models of a real estate project in Qionghai, Hainan Province, on December 19. The property industry attracted 2.7 billion yuan in the first 11 months of this year, up 118.8 percent over the same period last year. Photo: CFP
Premier Wen Jiabao has reassured the nation's homebuyers that the authorities will flex their muscles to rein in property speculation and offer more affordable housing, amid increasingly audible public discontent over soaring prices.
Wen's remarks appear to be a rare reiteration of the government's determination to contain hiking land prices, the second such announcement in a month following the Central Economic Work Conference, which put cooling the country's property market top of the agenda.
The premier said Sunday the government would maintain order in the real estate market through taxes, interest rates and land policies, among other measures, as house prices in some cities have risen "too fast."
"We will crack down on illegal activities, including the hoarding of land, driving up housing prices and delaying sales for bigger profits," he told the Xinhua News Agency in an interview broadcast live online, in which he elaborated on the country's current economic situation and gave a glimpse of his administration's economic planning for 2010.
The State Council earlier this month pledged to increase the supply of smaller houses at medium-and-low prices, continue to support residential consumption for improved housing while curbing speculation. It was announced that homeowners must retain property for five years before reselling it, a change from the previous minimum of two years.
Seven months of average salary in Beijing could cover the price of a square meter of residential property in the city, according to official calculations. The housing-price hikes outpaced the growth in earnings by 30 percent in Shanghai and 80 percent in Beijing over the past six years, according to Goldman Sachs. The sharp increase in residential property prices has prompted fears that a property bubble was forming.
In the Webcast Sunday, Wen also pledged not to bow to pressure to allow the yuan to appreciate and lashed out at foreign trade protectionism.
Wen said he would continue to implement macroeconomic policies next year aimed at stimulating growth and fighting the global financial crisis, but would also rein in credit.
Some countries demanded the yuan's appreciation while practicing trade protectionism against China, Wen said, adding this in essence was aimed at checking China's development.
