Over the past two years, Chinese cities have been drawing skilled professionals with incentives such as household registration permits, or hukou. China’s central authorities released a document on promoting social mobility of labor that relaxed the country’s hukou system, read an editorial in newspaper
Economic Daily on January 9.
Some, however, argue the document’s aim is to increase demand for real estate and sustain the market, while others predict that China is about to relax its real estate controls.
Such views are misleading and untenable, read the editorial. First, central authorities reiterated “developing real estate for residential purposes, not for speculation” at two of its major meetings, including the Central Economic Working Conference in December 2019.
The editorial examined China’s real estate market in 2019. Underpinned by city-specific policies and regulations, China’s overall real estate market was stable in 2019 and price increases were under control despite an uptick in commercial housing turnover.
In 2020, regulation and control policies on the housing market are stabilizing nationwide, with most Chinese cities still holding a firm grip, the article read.
Regarding the document on labor and talents, the editorial cited an unnamed official as saying it aims to liberate and develop social productivity and realize sustained and healthy economic development.
The editorial cited Yao Jingyuan, a researcher with the Counselors’ Office of the State Council and former chief economist of the National Bureau of Statistics, who said that the free flow of professionals is critical to the dynamic economy and absorption of talents of a city.
Zhang Bo, president of the 58 Anjuke Real Estate Research Institute, argued that cancelling or lowering the home-buying threshold for qualifying professionals is only one incentive and is not the same as relaxing housing market controls.
Yet the editorial pointed out the downsides of such policies. The selection criteria are mainly academic qualifications or professional titles, rather than skill sets host cities really need, read the article.
Jia Jinjing, director of the Macro-economic Research Department of the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China, said that cities differ in development and need professionals with specific skill sets. Promoting population flow based on their specific needs would be more scientific, read the editorial.
Old Version
