Construction Minister: Build Quality HousingThe government is aiming to encourage real estate developers and housing agents to provide high-quality houses to consumers, Yu Zhengsheng, minister of construction said on Thursday evening.The minister made his remarks at a ceremony at which 309 developers and 165 agents from throughout China publicly promised to provide satisfactory housing. The event was sponsored by the Ministry of Construction, the China Consumers Association and the Economic Daily. According to Yu, between January and May this year, 117.6 billion yuan (US$14 billion) has been invested in the construction of real estate nationwide, a rise of 20.8 per cent from the same period last year. During that period, 26.67 million square metres of apartments have been sold, an increase of 42.5 per cent compared to the same period last year. Despite such achievements, which Yu attributes to the success of housing reforms, serious problems continue to trouble consumers. In 1999, 21,235 complaints about housing and construction material were received by the China Consumers Association. This figure has risen 20.2 per cent from last year. The complaints were mainly about false advertising, contract fraud, exaggerated estimates of the amount of space available and infringements of the consumer's property rights. Yu said his ministry will strengthen its supervision of housing quality, but meanwhile, developers should discipline themselves better and use contracts. "In the long term, problems of housing quality need to be solved with the full introduction of a market system," the minister said. He praised the voluntary promises made by the developers and agents as a positive step towards ensuring a higher quality of housing. The developers and agents guarantee consumers' property rights, a high quality of housing, accurate floor space measurements and honest advertising. |
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