Beijing Mayor Guo Jinlong says the average price of new housing in the capital fell 11.3 per cent last year thanks to heavy government intervention in the real estate market.
Guo outlined developments in the Beijing property sector yesterday while presenting the city's programme for 'scientific development' this year to municipal lawmakers and political advisers.
Members of Beijing's municipal people's congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference have been holding their annual meetings this week. Beijing's control of housing prices was matched, the mayor said, by 'almost twice as much' investment in various government-subsidised 'policy housing' projects than in 2010.
The private sector's contribution to such housing projects grew 15 per cent he added, without detailing the size of the investments.
However, Guo did say that in order to build more subsidised housing units, Beijing had allocated 10 billion yuan (HK$12.3 billion) from the municipal coffers to a special fund.
By the end of last year, the municipal government had 230,000 new housing units under its control, 100,000 of which had been completed. Another 10,000 'public rental units' had been distributed, Guo said.
He pledged that Beijing would maintain a firm grip on the real estate market this year 'to facilitate the return of housing prices to a rational range'.
