Web Exclusive

Ministry to make local govt pledge subsidized housing supply

By Song Jingli (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-02-16 16:05

All provincial governments in China will sign agreements next week with the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development to promise that they will meet their target for how many government-subsidized apartments to build this year, the China Business News (CBN) reported Wednesday.

The CBN said it received this information from officials in various provinces’ departments of housing and urban-rural development. A high-level official in the Ministry also said earlier that the ministry will sign such agreements before March this year, according to the CBN.

China plans to build 10 million government-subsidized apartments this year for those in its lowest income bracket, up by 72 percent from last year.

The ministry has assigned the task to all provinces, the CBN reported, citing one housing official in Central China and another from the West China.

Related readings:  More cities face housing purchase limitations  Public rental housing eases distress in Chongqing  Hangzhou tops 2010 ranking of housing prices  China ups public housing fund mortgage rates

The ministry also ordered that construction of these projects start by Oct 30, said the CBN.

Whether the target is met will be a factor in assessing the performance of each local government, the CBN added.

Jiang Weixin, the minister, said building these housing projects is not only an economic task, but also a political task because this move will help curb housing prices and boost people's confidence, according to the CBN.