Gov't eyes continual control of land use
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-06 06:15

The government will continue to regulate land supply for real estate development this year but promised to transfer more to construct economical housing for low-income families, said a cabinet official.

Yuan Xiaosu, vice-minister of land and resources, urged local governments to stop selling land to investors at low prices, in a bid to protect the country's limited land resources.

Buildings under contruction beside the Huangpu River in Shanghai are seen in this photo taken in September, 2005. [newsphoto]

He said the government would continuously protect primary farmland and prevent misuse and illegal occupation of farmland so as to ensure the country's grain security.

But Yuan said the government plans to supply more land to construct low-cost housing in an effort to satisfy growing needs and curb rising real estate prices.

"We are still facing the demanding task of regulating land supply in 2006 to keep land and real estate prices stable," Xinhua quoted Yuan as saying.

The task has also challenged Construction Minister Wang Guangtao, who said that overheated investment in the country's real estate sector was basically curbed in 2005.

"More real estate development will use more arable land," said Wang. "That will cause concern over grain safety in turn," he warned.

As China sped up its urbanization and modernization of rural regions, the majority of 1.3 billion Chinese have planned or started to buy or build more spacious homes.

Per capita living space in cities increased from 20 square metres in 2000 to 25 square metres last year. The figure is 40 in the United States, 38 in Germany, and 30 in Japan and Singapore.