Presenters:

Xu Xianping, Vice Minister of the National Development and Reform Commission; Huang Ming, Vice Minister of Public Security; Liu Kun, Vice Minister of Finance; Yang Zhiming, Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security; Wang Shiyuan, Vice Minister of Land and Resources and Qi Ji, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development

Date:

March 19,2014

Introduction:

The press conference concerns the National New Urbanization Plan (2014-2020) which was issued on Sunday, March 16.

China News Service (CNS): I would like to ask Vice Minister Qi some questions about housing in the process of urbanization. Will the high housing prices found in the big cities become an obstacle for urbanization? How can we ensure that rural migrant workers can afford housing in the cities? Do we have different measures for different types of cities?

Qi Ji: Your questions concern housing problems during the process of implementing the new urbanization plan. Minister Yang has just elaborated on the issue of how to help migrant workers work to their satisfaction, and talked about his understanding of the plan. We often say, "When one lives well, then one can truly settle down and enjoy his job." Therefore we need to ensure that the new urban residents and rural migrant workers can truly find a place to live in the urban areas. I'd like to call your attention to two points in the National Plan which discuss housing for rural migrant workers.

The first one is to ensure the full coverage of basic housing for rural migrant workers. In other words, all migrant families eligible for the housing guarantee system in the cities they move in will be covered by the system. There will be various categories of assurance available. The second thing I believe you may also be interested in, is to gradually realize the universal coverage of basic public services for the permanent population in urban areas. It means that those who work permanently in cities, with or without a city hukou, will all be entitled to enjoy basic public services. Of course, the basic public services include a guarantee for affordable housing. These are two new policies in regards to the housing of urban residents and the permanent urban population.

You also mentioned the question of housing affordability for farmers in big cities and cities with relatively higher housing prices. Actually there are two types of migrant farmers. Your question doesn't concern those who have already amassed their fortunes. The focus of our government will be on those migrant workers who have worked in cities for quite a period of time, but without a stable home. Their housing needs should be met and guaranteed by the government.

For rural migrant workers, the housing prices in many big cities form a setback they cannot overcome. Therefore, the National Plan on New Urbanization has dedicated an entire chapter to this. Chapter 26, entitled "Improve the Urban Housing System," gives the market a decisive role in resource allocation and gives better play to the role of the government in helping to realize the general aggregate balance. To this end, we propose several principles. The first is a general aggregate balance, referring to the balance of supply and demand.

The second is an appropriate structure of housing supply. This means there will be supplies of both commercial and indemnificatory housing. And for those who neither meet the requirements for indemnificatory housing, nor can they afford commercial housing, we propose developing a type of housing with shared property rights. In this plan, the government and the house buyer share the ownership of the house during a given period of time. This will help solve the housing concerns of China's so-called "sandwich class."

The third is to make sure housing prices match spending power. On the whole, we want to ensure an even market. But this may differ greatly from area to area.

For rural migrant workers who cannot afford commercial housing, if they are qualified, they can apply for indemnificatory housing; if they do not qualify for indemnificatory housing, the new model of commercial housing with shared ownership will become a choice for many of them. This policy covers not only rural migrant workers, but also new urban residents moving into the big cities from other places.