A Chinese expert has urged the government to keep all state-owned enterprises from the real estate market after the companies used their huge capital reserves to drive up the already skyrocketing housing prices in the country.
Zou Xiaoyun, deputy general engineer from the Ministry of Land and Resources, suggested Tuesday that authorities trace the source of the money the SOEs invested in the asset market and transfer them to the construction of government-sponsored low-rent housing projects.
Zou's suggestion came as an SOE-capitalized developer won a land acquisition auction in Beijing on Monday with a record high price of more than five billion yuan, or 714 million U.S. dollars.
The auction, originally scheduled for March 8, was postponed to Monday to avoid the country's annual parliamentary sessions, during which many of the country's lawmakers and advisors expressed concern that high home prices will put the country at risk for severe inflation.
Out-of-control home prices have been a plague for many Chinese citizens. A survey released on Tuesday by the People's Bank, China's central bank, showed more than 70 percent of depositors thought housing prices were unacceptably high.
The government has pledged to take necessary measures to ensure affordable housing, which Premier Wen Jiaobao has said is crucial for the country's recovery from the global recession.
Wen also vowed to rein in the property market in a government work report delivered on Sunday at the plenary session of the National People's Congress, the country's top legislature.
In addition, the State Council, China's cabinet, in January urged the national watchdog on state assets management to further supervise SOEs' investment in the property market.
Zou Xiaoyun said more efforts should be made to tighten loans inflow to the SOEs and restructure local finance systems that depend on income from land sales. |
