Majority of population still cannot afford home

BEIJING - More than 60 percent of China's residents cannot afford an apartment and the high property prices in the cities are curbing the nation's urbanization process, experts said.

"Migrant workers are unable to afford apartments in the cities, which forces them to return to their hometowns and build houses in rural areas," said Li Enping, associate professor at the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, on Thursday.

Li was speaking at the launch of the Blue Book of Real Estate, an annual report on the development of China's real estate market. It is the eighth year that the Social Sciences Academic Press under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has published the report.