Shoes aimed at developer show growing discontent
0 
In his own words, celebrity property developer Ren Zhiqiang has been "accorded a courteous reception proper to a president."
Two dirty shoes were hurled at him minutes after he began to address a big-time property summit in Dalian, Liaoning Province, on May 7.
At the time of the assault Ren had just made sarcastic remarks about a hero in a popular TV series dramatizing the plight of Chinese people who find housing increasingly unaffordable in a big city.
Like that other president who dodged a shoe, Ren made a clever dodge, and there were shouts of "Bravo!" - clearly not for avoiding the shoes. A subsequent online survey showed a stunning 80 percent of respondents in support of the assault.
But from the outset the young assailant had missed his real target by aiming the footware at Ren. More deserving are some officials who stand firmly behind property developers who, after sharing the spoils with real estate developers, begin to condemn the real estate developers for their greediness.
Not all property developers feel it necessary to conceal their contempt for previous government determinations to rein in the red-hot property market.
Ren has previously uttered many outrageous remarks about unaffordable homes, for instance, "I only build homes for the rich." Depending on interpretations, he may be just pointing to a simple truth that the government is obliged to supply housing to the majority outside the market.
Who is building for the poor anyway? In theory, local governments aspire to that ideal, but affordable housing has never been a real priority, and becomes increasingly the preserve of our pampered civil servants. In that light, Ren might be stating a simple truth many prefer to keep to themselves.
Another celebrity real estate developer, SOHO China Chairman Pan Shiyi, blogged recently that while flying from Beijing to Boao, Hainan Province, for a forum last month, a flight attendant asked him: "Chairman Pan, I am asking on behalf of our whole crew. Do you think housing prices will continue to soar? I am going to get married soon. Do you think I should rent or buy a flat now?"
Pan may have felt flattered in being consulted on sky-high housing prices at so befitting an altitude. As with Ren's words, Pan's prediction of soaring home prices over the past few years seemed to have been providentially inspired.
Their detractors - disappointed and financially ruined (by missing the chance to buy) - should be directing their ire at those whose duty is to regulate the market, rather than the likes of Ren and Pan.
Pan remarked at the forum that China's property market has become "cancerous", in that it is sucking money from virtually all sectors - those that should be focused on agriculture, petrochemicals, railway construction and other areas.
Go to Forum >>0 Comments