BEIJING, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- China will continue to build millions of affordable housing units and stick to control measures on the property sector next year, the minister of housing and urban-rural development said Tuesday.
The country plans to start construction on 6 million affordable housing units and complete the construction of 4.6 million units in 2013, Jiang Weixin, the minister, told a national work conference here.
He also urged "unswervingly" carrying forward with property controls, noting that work will be accelerated to expand property tax trials beyond Shanghai and Chongqing.
Differentiated credit and tax policies and purchase restrictions in the sector should continue in order to curb speculative and investment demand on the housing market, Jiang said.
Meanwhile, the ministry will continue to support consumers' rational housing demand, he said.
The remarks came as Chinese real estate developers' share prices surged on Tuesday over anticipation that strong housing demand will be generated by the country's urbanization process.
Urbanization is considered as a main driver for domestic demand and will be actively and steadily pushed forward in 2013, according to a statement issued after the central economic work conference earlier this month, which set the tone for policymaking next year.
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