China.org.cn | September 13, 2024
Jimu News:
At present, China's property market is in the process of adjustment and transformation. Could you brief us on the work that has been carried out and the progress that has been made in ensuring the delivery of housing for commercial housing projects? Thank you.
Dong Jianguo:
Thanks for your question. Ensuring the timely delivery of housing is a significant deployment made by the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. It is not only important work to guarantee people's livelihood and to effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of property buyers, but also conducive to meeting various expectation, boosting confidence in the real estate market as well as preventing and mitigating relevant risks.
On May 17, the State Council held a teleconference to ensure the delivery of housing projects, and made overall deployments on this regard. The MHURD and relevant departments held a briefing at the SCIO on the afternoon of May 17, introducing and interpreting policies on this issue. After the briefing, a series of policies and measures on stabilizing the property market were released, and we stepped up work to promote the delivery of housing in an orderly manner. As a result of city-specific measures being implemented, the country's real estate market has seen positive changes.
To better ensure the delivery of commercial housing projects, the MHURD and the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) have carried out a campaign to comprehensively check the commercial housing projects under construction that have been sold but not yet delivered within the country. There are 3.96 million housing units nationwide that were supposed to be delivered in accordance with contracts by the end of this year. In order to accomplish this goal, we have worked energetically on the following aspects.
First, policies have been enforced to create synergy. At the national level, the MHURD and the NFRA have implemented the requirements of the overall plan on effectively ensuring the delivery of housing projects, jointly formulated policy documents and organized training on relevant policies for local governments and relevant departments. We have also specified work arrangements on ensuring the housing delivery and enhanced the effectiveness of the urban real estate financing coordination mechanisms. The Supreme People's Court has clarified supporting judicial measures for these issues, such as prudently taking property preservation measures for the real estate "white list" projects. At the local level, municipal governments were asked to introduce city-level action plans, make detailed arrangements and prepare specific disposal approaches for different projects in line with local conditions. Some provinces have formulated provincial overall plans on ensuring the delivery of housing projects, defining objectives and supporting measures.
Second, urban real estate financing coordination mechanisms have played a vital role. We have established a three-tier coordination mechanism at the national, provincial and municipal levels, and included all the eligible projects into the "white list." Commercial banks have be asked to ensure that those who have fulfilled their duties are not held accountable, and provide financial support for all qualified lenders. At present, more than 5,300 projects on the "white list" and loans valued at roughly 1.4 trillion yuan have been approved by Chinese commercial banks in accordance with approval procedures. These funds are being released in line with the progress of the projects, which strongly support their construction and delivery.
Third, we have followed the principle of "one project, one policy" to deal with projects by type. We have guided local governments to implement a disposal approach that assigns each project a different action plan, a special group, a bank, an auditor and a judge. This approach was first piloted in Zhengzhou, and is scheduled to expand throughout the country. For eligible projects, we include them into the "white list," and provide them with financial support to ensure their construction and timely delivery. For insolvent projects, we accelerate the bankruptcy and reorganization or liquidation of project development enterprises, and give priority to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of home buyers in accordance with the Supreme People's Court's regulations on debt repayment.
Fourth, we have made efforts to ensure the quality and timely delivery of projects. The goal of ensuring the delivery of homes is to hand over houses that meet the delivery conditions to buyers. We have established a national system for ensuring home delivery. Each delivery task shall be completed according to the contract signed with each household registering with an ID number and a contact phone number, ensuring that the objectives are achieved down to each household and each buyer. As soon as a home is delivered, it is recorded and marked as completed. Meanwhile, we guide local authorities to strengthen the supervision of project quality to ensure that delivered projects meet the conditions for moving in and avoid discrepancies between what is promised and what is delivered. In addition, the Ministry of Natural Resources has issued supporting documents to address the issue of certification for home delivery projects, striving to ensure that property ownership certificates for such projects are issued as required.
Ensuring the delivery of homes concerns the vital interests of the public. People paid for their homes and should receive them. Next, the MHURD, together with relevant ministries, will resolutely implement the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We will always prioritize protecting the legitimate rights and interests of homebuyers, hold local governments, real estate developers and financial institutions accountable, take concrete measures, tackle difficulties and strive to ensure the successful delivery of commercial housing projects. Thank you.