China completes national real estate registration system

China has completed building a national unified system for real estate registration, in a way to boost transparency in ownership, after 10 years of hard work, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

China issued rules requiring real estate owners to register their holdings with authorities, but was faced resistance from local governments that were unwilling to open up their books.

A unified real estate database for the entire country is considered a necessity for the central government to regulate the housing market and also force corrupt local officials to disclose properties purchased with illicit funds, industry experts say.

More than 790 million real estate registration certificates have been issued nationwide over the past decade, according to state television.

A unified real estate registration system with a national database of information on ownership would help China implement a property tax in the future.