China Officially Launches Real Property Registration
The Chinese government officially launched its long-awaited property registration system in over a dozen of cities on Sunday.
Under the new system, new Real Estate Certificates will be issued if a home is sold, and the legal owner of the home will be registered on a computer system.
There will be a transition period as the new system is put in-place.
Wei Hong is the Director of Guangdong's Provincial Property Registration Bureau.
"From now on people will get new certificates when they buy a house. But the old certificates will remain valid as long as home owners don't trade them or change information on them."
The creation of the pilot property registration system is the first step toward the creation of a nation-wide database.
Liu Yanping is the deputy chief registrar with the Ministry of Land and Resources.
"We need to set up a unified platform so we can share registration information. That work is currently underway. After the establishment of the platform, the information of every registered property can be shared in real-time among different regions, departments and industries at various levels."
Authorities say the creation of this national data base should ensure the safety of real estate transactions and help protect the rights of the individuals.
Right now there are 15 pilot cities involved in the pilot program.
Wang Guanghua, director of registration with the Ministry of Land and Resources says they expect the nation-wide database to be operational in a couple of years.
"The property registration database will be put into operation in 2017. Once operational, the database will give both property owners and state agencies access to the information about the property."
The Ministry of Land and Resources says the new system will help regulate the real estate market across the country.
It's also expected to help in the implementation of a nation-wide property tax, as well as in the government's crack-down on corrupt officials who might hold properties in different parts of the country.
For CRI, I'm Qi Zhi.
