Economy

Property tycoon raps top planner's 'buck-passing'

By Zuo Likun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-03-09 13:32

Chinese property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang has ripped into a statement by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) that "not a penny" of the country's mammoth four trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus package has entered the real estate industry.

"Is the 4 trillion yuan investment not used for land confiscation and resident relocations? Doesn't that increase the housing demands? No direct investment (in property) doesn't mean no influence on property prices," Ren wrote on his twitter-style Sina blog on Sunday morning.

"The NDRC is simply passing the buck for the property price fluctuations," wrote Ren, Chairman of real estate developer Hua Yuan Group who is known for his outspokenness.

What started the blame trading is the comment by Zhang Ping, chairman of NDRC, the country's top economic planner, at a Saturday news conference at China's annual session of parliament.

"Forty-four percent of the 4 trillion stimulus investment was used for people's livelihood. None of it entered the high-energy, high pollution, material-consuming or over-extended industries. Neither a penny has entered the property industry." Zhang said.

Ren's lashing-out at the "not-a-penny" statement was echoed by peer industry insider Li Zongmiao, who said to Tuesday's Beijing News that the country's frenzied real estate industry in 2009 was nothing short of the oft-cited one-liner "easy money, stupid staff, and speedy grab.”

The newspaper cited a source at Franshion Property, a subsidiary of state-owned heavyweight Sinochem Group, saying that the company, granted 30 billion yuan ($4.39 billion) bank loans, simply doesn't know how to spend the money.