China completes unification of real estate registration system

China has completed unifying its real estate registration systems since beginning to build a nationwide system in 2013, which solved "difficulty in registration", the Ministry of Natural Resources said on Tuesday.

Real estate refers to property attached to land, including ownership of land, houses, forest and farmland and use rights of construction land and sea areas.

Over the past decade, more than 790 million real estate property certificates and more than 360 million real estate registration certificates have been issued.

Among them, 9.6 million people who had been relocated from remote villages to towns and cities during the country's poverty alleviation project received real estate certificates for relocation housing nationwide.

In 2013, a plan on institutional reform issued by the State Council said a unified real estate registration system would reduce the overlapping of departmental responsibilities.

For example, registration institutions authorized by the Ministry of Natural Resources have been assigned to issue land contracts and operation right certificates instead of previous ones, which were different departments of local governments at different levels, according to the Civil Code.

Obligees nationwide can inquire into and copy their own real estate registration information by a unified system. Interested persons who are involved in real estate transactions, inheritance or litigation can also inquire into and copy the condition of the real estate.

State organs can make inquiries and copy real estate registration materials related to matters to be investigated according to laws and regulations.

Li Yujia, chief researcher of the Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center, told The Paper the unified registration of real estate can ensure the security of real estate transactions and protect the legitimate property rights of real estate rights holders.

In addition, it helps integrate information to provide data for policymaking, he was quoted as saying.