According to the latest announcement on the official website of the Ministry of Land and Resources, Liao Yonglin, Director of the Land Use Management Department of the Ministry of Land and Resources, recently stated that in 2014 the regulation of real estate land use will be strengthened to ensure land prices remain at a reasonable level. At the same time, oversight of post-supply land development and utilization will be strengthened, especially oversight of the development and construction of major real estate enterprises and large land parcels. Data show that developers' enthusiasm for land acquisition last year has continued to the present, causing land transfer fees in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen to reach 144.33 billion yuan in the first two months of this year, an increase of 84% year on year.

 

　　Ministry of Land and Resources: Strengthen Regulation of Real Estate Land Use This Year

 

　　Liao Yonglin stated that, in addition to continuing to implement the target responsibility system for securing land for affordable housing projects, several major tasks must be addressed: in cities, regulation of real estate land use must be strengthened to ensure land prices remain at a reasonable level; close attention must be paid to market changes, with greater efforts in analysis, judgment and classified guidance; with the preparation and implementation of housing land supply plans as the starting point, the total supply of housing land must be stabilized, the land supply structure optimized, and the timing of land supply balanced; oversight of post-supply land development and utilization must continue to be strengthened, especially oversight of the development and construction of major real estate enterprises and large land parcels, urging timely development to form effective supply.

 

　　In addition, in rural areas, in-depth study and advancement of reform of the rural collective land use system should be carried out, promoting the construction of a unified urban-rural construction land market, and progressively advancing pilot programs for the transfer of collective operational construction land use rights; rural homestead management should be strengthened, the homestead management system further improved, farmers' usufructuary rights over homesteads safeguarded, continued exploration made of paid use and paid withdrawal of homesteads, farmers helped to reasonably share in land value-added gains, and homestead use efficiency improved.

 

　　Industry Experts: Some Cities Advised to "Restrict Bidding" for Land

 

　　Yan Yuejin, a researcher at the E-House Real Estate Research Institute, said that judging from the current policy orientation, the transfer of incremental land in first- and second-tier cities may weaken, including a reduction in land for commercial and office use, while land for public rental housing, resettlement housing and similar uses will continue to increase. Industrial land prices were previously underestimated, so the statement about ensuring a reasonable level of land prices is not contradictory to future sharp rises in prices for such land. This conforms to the principle of industrial guidance.

 

　　He believes that to curb land prices, tough measures must be taken. For example, in the traditional land bidding, auction and listing market, a one-time quotation method could be tried to prevent irrational bids; in some cities, land transfer could be carried out by lease. Changing the one-time payment of land transfer fees to a lease method can avoid the impulse of local governments to sell land. As for some real estate enterprises entering overly competitive cities, Yan Yuejin also believes that "bidding restrictions" could be considered.