Shanghai launches reform on land sales

Meanwhile in Shanghai, the municipal government has also launched reforms to control housing prices. Land sales in Shanghai will no longer be decided solely based on how much money is offered.

The Shanghai Municipal Land and Resources Authority has announced that it will begin transferring land plots through bidding invitations, rather than auctions. Results from biding assessments will decide who gets to purchase the land, and the price an interested party offers will make up just 30 percent of the total review. A company's performance and technical achievements will also be very important. Many experts say Shanghai's reform attempts should be encouraged, but with some reservations.

Yan Jinming, expert, China Land Science Society, said, "First of all, it may cause the cheap selling of land resources; second, there might be some discrepancies within the process, corruption may be involved."

Experts suggest the municipal government make every process transparent, to publicize every element in the assessment, and to minimize the subjective factors. They also said that housing price limits and the city's green areas, should also be written in the agreement. They are hoping the new system will be perfected quickly so it can replace the original, in a bid to seriously curb housing prices.