Good Housing, Real Estate, Urban Renewal! Ministry of Housing Latest Statement!

The standard for 'good homes' is safety, comfort, greenness, and intelligence. Promote 'good homes' throughout the entire lifecycle—from good standards and design, quality materials and construction, to effective operation and maintenance.

The latest edition of the 'Residential Building Code' raises floor height standards from the previous 2.8 meters to 3 meters. For residential units, previously only buildings above 7 floors required elevators; the new code mandates elevators for all buildings 4 floors and above. Additionally, to enhance child safety, guardrails on balconies and terraces must now be at least 1.2 meters high.

New home construction primarily involves two aspects: first, upgrading standards, design, materials, construction, and operations across the entire chain. Second, promoting intelligent, green, prefabricated, and modular construction to build people's satisfaction with 'good homes'.

For example, some projects use 'separated utility shafts,' meaning water, gas, electricity, and structural systems are separated. This eliminates future renovation disruptions and reduces impact on neighboring units. Some projects feature adjustable rooms that can be reconfigured to increase usable space and accommodate future renovations, meeting diverse needs such as multi-generational families or elderly care.

For old building renovations, there are two main approaches: one is complete demolition and reconstruction—especially for dangerous structures (Class D), which must be fully demolished and rebuilt. In practice, this approach has been widely tested and has produced many successful examples. While exterior appearances may not change drastically, their structure and functionality are entirely transformed, turning old buildings into modern ones. The second approach supports renovation, repair, and partial upgrades. Key tasks include updating fixtures and integrating practical, user-friendly technologies into existing homes. Secondly, combining aging-friendly and smart renovation to meet evolving societal needs.

During the '14th Five-Year Plan' period, China will construct and renovate approximately 770,000 kilometers of underground urban infrastructure. Accelerating the completion of drainage and flood prevention facilities, continuing to advance the construction of urban lifeline safety projects, and continuously enhancing resilience against disasters and risks.

Urban underground networks mainly include gas, water supply, drainage, sewage, heating pipelines, and integrated utility tunnels. These serve as the city's 'blood vessels' and 'nervous system,' forming a critical part of the modernized infrastructure network. To complete the task of constructing and upgrading urban underground networks, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will adopt four measures:

Focus on 'building well': Systematic advancement. Prioritize strengthening connections between different pipeline systems—water, gas, heat—and coordinating layout, timing, and standards. Also strengthen interconnection with other 'five major networks,' improving overall operational efficiency.

Focus on 'using well': Quality and safety assurance. Enhance responsibility awareness among local authorities and strictly manage all project stages—planning, design, construction, and acceptance—to strengthen full-process quality control and ensure accountability across all parties involved.

Focus on 'managing well': Long-term governance. Accelerate the improvement of policy systems, management regulations, and operational mechanisms. Promote coordinated efforts across engineering construction, project supervision, interdepartmental collaboration, and operation and maintenance to achieve 'construction and management together,' ensuring safe and orderly operation of underground networks throughout their entire lifecycle.

Focus on 'doing it effectively': Unified coordination. With numerous departments and entities involved, strong joint management is essential. Local housing and urban-rural development departments will strengthen regular communication and collaboration with relevant agencies, ensuring smooth process integration in key areas like risk prevention, administrative approval, and forming collective strength. At the same time, they will work jointly with relevant departments to guide local governments in optimizing central and local financial resources, pooling and increasing investment funds, and establishing a sound multi-source funding mechanism for underground infrastructure construction and operation.

Officials from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development stated that the share of secondary housing transactions rose from 27% in 2020 to 46% by 2025, and already reached 52% in the first eight months of this year—exceeding the 50% milestone, marking entry into an era of inventory-driven market transition.

During the '14th Five-Year Plan' period, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development will actively adapt to new trends in real estate, comprehensively addressing risks and driving transformation, stabilizing growth and improving living standards. It will accelerate the establishment of new development models in real estate, fostering a diversified supply system, multiple protection channels, and a purchase-and-rent dual mechanism to promote high-quality development in the real estate sector.

In commercial housing sales, we will promote the 'on-site viewing, immediate purchase' model to resolve the long-standing issue of 'one hand pays money, one hand receives the house.' This ensures 'what you see is what you get,' fundamentally preventing transaction risks. On-site viewing has become the dominant trend. According to national statistics, the sales area of existing homes has consistently grown, accounting for an increasing share of new home sales. New projects prioritize on-site sales, with targeted support policies for land, financing, and tax incentives. For pre-sales, strengthen monitoring of pre-sale funds and fully protect buyers' legal rights and interests.