New property system to aid anti-graft drive

Integrated registry may take years to enact: land resources official

The Ministry of Land and Resources is planning to submit regulations for an integrated real estate registration system to the State Council, which will be combined with marriage registration and officials' property declaration systems, the New Express reported Monday.

An anonymous official with the ministry told The Economic Observer that the Legal Affairs Office of the State Council might introduce the regulations by the end of 2014. However, he believed the regulations could be impeded for years as the interests of many ministries are involved, the newspaper reported Saturday.

"Real estate registration will protect owners' properties. It will directly help pave the way for the launch of property tax and indirectly assist the anti-corruption drive," Yan Jinming, a professor with the Renmin University of China, was quoted as saying by The Economic Observer.

Fixed properties, including land for agriculture and industry, are currently registered at a number of different government departments.

Information of real estate registration will be lawfully open to authorities, including judicial departments and disciplinary inspection departments for investigation. Property owners, interested parties and anyone that obtains owners' consent will be allowed to check the information, according to the regulations.

The regulations also have a clear confidentiality clause protecting national and corporate secrecy and personal privacy.

The system could cause panic sales by some people and increase supply in the real estate market, predicted Hu Jinghui, vice president of 5i5j Property Agency. Media reports have shown that some houses owned by officials are for sale with prices well below market level.

The regulation will also affect civil affairs such as marital issues. Couples will be able to check each other's property information including property rights, transactions and value of property owned before marriage.

The regulations require departments, including land resources, public security, tax administration and finance to share information. Implementation would therefore prove difficult due to the diverse division of work, Zhu Daolin, director of the land resources management department of China Agriculture University, told The Economic Observer.

Unified property rights registration rules for different kinds of fixed properties including land, houses and forests are necessary, and it will be challenging to set up an integrated identification rule when the properties are managed by different divisions, Zhu said.

China established a dedicated agency to supervise property registration on May 7 as part of an effort to accelerate the registration process. The bureau, under the Ministry of Land and Resources, is in charge of the registration of land, real estate, forest, grassland and maritime space.

China vowed to build a unified system for real estate registration in its urbanization plan for the 2014-20 period unveiled on March 16, aiming to set up a national network of housing information and allow departments to share it.

The country plans to build a national real property registration system in about three years and make it operational for information sharing and queries in four years.