By: John Ruwitch
SHANGHAI: China will seek new sources of residential land supply and the government will gradually withdraw from being the sole provider of these plots, the state news agency Xinhua reported.
Authorities will work on plans to let non-real estate companies build residential housing on land for which they have use rights, it quoted Minister of Land and Resources Jiang Daming as saying at a conference.
The government will also allow rental housing on rural land to increase rental options, Jiang said. Xinhua did not give further details.
In August, the land ministry said China would launch pilot programmes in 13 major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, to build rental housing projects in rural areas as part of efforts to ease a housing supply shortage.
Chinese land is divided into urban and rural land regimes, granting ownership rights over urban land to the state while rural land is owned collectively and cannot be bought and sold freely.
The move to boost rental supply comes as the government is trying to limit bubbles in its hottest markets where an increasing number of people are being priced out, raising concerns for policymakers who prize stability.
Source: Reuters
(Editing by Shri Navaratnam)