Miao Leru, director of Beijing Municipal Administration of Land and Resources and Housing, said that the market will trade application rights of state-owned land on behalf of government departments and other institutions.

The center will also organize auctions and bids needed in land trading as well as regularly release market information of land use for public reference.

A regulation, which was issued Thursday, requires specific trading of state-owned land to be conducted in the center.

Experts say that the establishment of the land market in Beijing will strengthen government supervision on land trading in Beijing and reduce under-the-table transactions.

The municipality will further regulate land purchase and reserve mechanism, sources say.

(Xinhua News Agency March 4, 2002)