Sino-US Housing Projects Starts

A memorandum on model projects of housing industry between China and America was signed today by Yu Zhengsheng, head of the Ministry of Construction, and Andrew Cuomo, director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, marking the all-round start of housing projects cooperation between the two countries.

According to the contract, China will adopt new methods to build model houses in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities. America will contribute to the project by offering building materials and equipment.

Priority are given to the financial cooperation on housing, a project started earlier. In which our country will establish pilots on housing loan insurance and securities of mortgage loan, so as to further support house purchase by individuals and strengthen development of housing industry.

The project was firstly put forward by President Jiang and American President Bill Clinton during Clinton's visit to China in 1998. Then a committee was established to implement the project, which consists of the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Finance, the Bank of China, and local governments and enterprises.

On today's signing ceremony, senior officials from both countries expressed that implementation of the project will contribute greatly to the cooperation in the field of housing industry and city construction.



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