The Problems of and Prospects for the China Property Markets
Nell S Y Chang
Mackintosh School of Architecture, the Glasgow School of Art,
167 Renfrew Street, Glasgow, United Kingdom G3 6RQ
Timothy M Havard
Circle Software Ltd., 2/6 Granard Business Centre
Bunns Lane, Mill Hill, London NW7 2DQ, United Kingdom
Abstract
Economic reform in China has continued for more than 25 years since 1978. The property market emerged in April 1988 when the PRC Constitution was revised to allow the transfer of the land use right. There is evidence showing the Chinese authoritiesrsquo; determination in transforming the property market into a market-oriented system. The transformation is startling and dynamic. Subsidy, provident funds and housing allowances have been employed to help to increase affordability for the people. In 2002 the authorities removed the differentiation of internal and external markets and price control in the internal market ceased. It is open to question whether the current market is mainly influenced by the supply and demand factors. This research investigates the Beijing developersrsquo; perceptions of the China property market. The research reveals the unique problems faced by Beijing property developers in the operation of this new market. The findings come from in-depth interviews of 15 professionals representing 13 Beijing Developers. The fact that nearly half of the Beijing professionals believe the China property market is an open market yet half believe it is not, might reflect the actual development stage of the market. Major problems include: the land allocation in which some developers might get free land which leads to an unfair market; the fee system in which different authorities apply different fee systems that add burdens for developers; the fact that the market is not fully regulated, with the situation in the large cities better than that in the smaller cities; the problem of lack of skills in the construction process, sale process and in property management services; inconsistent government interventions that might lead to the restriction of bank loans; the fact that the market suffers from a lack of transparency as a whole, including the complicated procedures for land allocation and the fee system; developer-side problems such as when developers come from different cities and have different backgrounds, experiences and skills - such variations also cause problems in the market operation. Other problems include developersrsquo; relationship with the authorities, lack of a master plan, lack of a secondary market and the immaturity of the buyers. Finally it is suggested that in the short-term large cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Canton will have a slight decline but then a steady boom reaching its peak within 5-10 years.
Keywords
China property market, developers, Beijing
Background and Previous Literature
China is the most populous state on earth but its arable land per person is far below the world average. Land is therefore the most valuable resource. The modern real estate market in China came into existence only after 1978 when the economic reforms began. All land is owned by the State; prior to the open door policy and the consequent economic reforms, land was allocated by the State through central economic planning and was regarded as free in decision-making and investment processes (Li, 1995-1997; Walker, 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996). However the Chinese had a long history of private property rights in land in imperial China. Before communism, Chinese proprietors had freedom to use land for any purpose and derive income from these uses; they could also alienate, transfer, subdivide or agglomerate the use and income rights with the use of contract (Lai, 1995). During imperial China, most of the people passed the land or rights to their family members; most of the lands were for agricultural purposes or for the construction of houses for family members. The transfer of the land or the rights outside family members was uncommon. Therefore it cannot be said that the land and property market has never existed but it was not active. After the communist revolution and the setting up of the Peoplersquo;s Republic of China in 1949, ownership of landed property by proprietors was abolished as the communist ideology condemns property ownership as the basis of class exploitation. Private property rights were replaced by central economic planning in the form of discretionary rights for the communist party members (Lai, 1995).
According to Walker and Li (1991-1997) land became valueless or ceased to be a factor of production, but Lai (1995) argued that although such values were not allowed to be reflected in terms of price, this did not mean that they disappeared. However the results of the socialist land systems were inefficiency from the point of view of a market economy: land was allocated without compensation, terms of years were not specified and right of transfer was unclear; also obligations and rights of land users were not clearly defined (Walker, 1994). As the planning failed, lands were left vacant and buildings were not maintained, costing great loss to the state.
Since the economic reforms began in 1978, China started to modify the system of land allocation with the intention of transforming the system from central-state planning to market-orientated. It was not until 1987 that Shenzhen City started to allocate land by public tender and auction; the PRC Constitution was revised to allow the transfer of the land use right in the 7th National Peoplersquo;s Congress in April 1988 (Walker, 1994). It is revealed in the researches by Walker and Li (1991-1997) that the land ownership was separated from the land use rights; the ownership of land remains
167 Renfrew Street,格拉斯哥,英国G3 6RQ
Bunns Lane,Mill Hill,伦敦NW7 2DQ,英国
如上所述,相信许可证制度是由政府雇用来控制从事业务的自由。此外,所有外国投资者都必须与中国开发商合作。土地分配问题在中国房地产市场出现的初期,政府受到
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