China to launch unified property registration

China will launch unified national property registration this year to regulate the real estate market and push forward urbanization.

Registration rules will be drafted and submitted by June to the State Council, China's Cabinet, and are expected to take effect this year, Hu Cunzhi, vice minister of land and resources, said on Saturday at the China Development Forum in Beijing.

The land registration system will be a more specific following a guideline in the urbanization plan released on March 16. The plan for urbanizing until 2020 builds a national network for real estate ownership,to reduce speculation and help needy people buy their own homes.

The ministry is working on a state land market for construction purposes, granting land owners the same rights and benefits, whether they are urbanites or country dwellers. The market will make land expropriation easier and help migrant workers settle in cities in an orderly manner.

Hu guaranteed four bottom lines: collective ownership for rural land, a fixed amount of arable land, stable grain output; and farmers' interests.