Unified real estate registration needed in China

BEIJING - Legal experts on Tuesday requested a unified real estate registration system in line with the country's economic development, to protect property rights.

Zhao Xiaoqian, director of the China Law Counsel Center, said unified registration of real estate would safeguard transactions and improve registration credibility.

"After years' of prevarication, real estate registration system was finally put on the agenda," Zhao said at a forum on real estate registration, investment and financing.

"The system has aroused discussions such as fighting corruption and stabilizing house prices," Zhao said.

Qing Feng, official with the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, said that at present, real estate is registered through different departments in China, and in many cities, houses and land are registered separately.

Qing added that the property rights over land, prairie, forests and sea areas are dispersed in different departments, including land and resources, housing and urban-rural development, agriculture and forests departments, causing trouble to both the public and government.

In May, vice minister of land and resources Hu Cunzhi said that China would resolve real estate registration rules by the end of June 2014, as the government transforms its functions and reforms administrative.

Also at the forum, Yang Hui, senior lawyer with the Jincheng Tongda & Neal Law Firm, suggested the government learn from international conventions and successful foreign cases.

About 100 people attended the forum, including officials, judges, professors and enterprises delegates.