Qingdao takes steps to bring down housing prices

The Qingdao local government has vowed to exercise tougher macrocontrol over the real estate sector to offer more affordable houses to people.

The port city's move announced last weekend was a major policy reversal to bring down property prices after former Party chief Du Shicheng was sacked for allegedly raising them to achieve faster GDP growth.

"The housing policy should be human-oriented. Market mechanism alone cannot ensure a favorable house market for people in the low-income group. The government, too, has to play its role to stabilize and control the property prices," Qingdao mayor Xia Gen was quoted by China Business News as having said.