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A real estate under construction in Yiwu, East China's Zhejiang province. File photo. [Photo/Xinhua]

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Xi Jinping reiterated in his report to the 19th CPC National Congress that "houses are for living in", which has set the tone for China's housing development, and a variety of housing reforms and measures are expected to be rolled out over the next five years.

In his report, Xi once again said that housing is not for speculation and the country will accelerate the building of a rental market in the country. This orientation and the building of a more sound social security system can be expected to serve as an important means to address China's main social contradiction in the new era, build a consumption-driven growth model and advance the country's modernization.

For many years the country's housing supply has attached greater importance to the sales of residential properties while paying less attention to housing for rent. As a result, housing has increasingly departed from its nature as a dwelling, and investment and speculation have run increasingly rife. The failure to work out a targeted top-level design is a fundamental reason why a series of regulatory measures adopted by previous decision-makers failed to tame skyrocketing housing prices.

To highlight the nature of housing as dwellings and a public good means that rental housing will become more prominent in China's housing system. This marks another significant institutional reform in China's housing sector. For urban newcomers who cannot afford to purchase a house in the cities where they work, measures are indeed needed to ensure they can rent a home before they have a financial capability to buy their own home.

The new housing system is expected to better meet the housing demands of new city residents and serve people's desire for a better life.

-Southern Metropolis Daily