Scholar suggests market could help people buy homes

Market mechanics should be used to ensure common people can use three to five years worth of their incomes to buy homes, says a professor of agricultural economics and rural development.

"But now it's impossible for migrant workers to buy a home even with 30 or 50 years' worth of wages," Zheng Fengtian, professor with Renmin University of China's school of agricultural economics and rural development, wrote in an article published in the latest China Economic Weekly magazine. "If they cannot afford their own homes, talk of urbanization will just be empty."

To improve the quality of China's urbanization — a goal the top leaders of the country made earlier at the Central Economic Work Conferences — Zheng suggested the government help migrant workers in cities afford a home and enjoy the same rights as other city dwellers. For example, he said they should be given access to social insurance and health care. He also called for breaking the government’s monopoly on land requisition and for introducing property taxes.