China has launched new rules on property registration in over a dozen of cities, which group up all individuals' land holdings. The move is seen as a first big step toward a unified, national property database.

The new ownership certificate makes property transactions safer and easier than ever before.

In addition to buildings, it also covers land, maritime property and forests records.

"Chinese property is subject to registration, but records are dispersed. There are different agencies across different regions. The new rules pave the way for a unified information management," researcher from Peking Univ.'s Public Economy Research Center, Han Shitong said.

The national database will eventually comprise data from provincial, municipal, and county levels.

Whenever disputes arise, it will help authorities quickly identify what belongs to whom. And access to the database will be highly restricted.

In the next five years, China will also establish a platform to manage the registration information, which will be shared in real time.

Once the system is running across the country, it will pave the way for levying property taxes.

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