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SCMP Reporter

CHINA signalled the end of its six-month crackdown on the overheated property sector with the inauguration of a high-profile show in Shenzhen yesterday, and simultaneously published a value added-tax law aimed at the staggering profits reaped by developers.

  ''It is no longer necessary to worry about the impact of macro control on the property market,'' Vice-Minister of Construction Li Zhendong said at the opening ceremony of the 1993 China Real Estate Exhibition in Shenzhen, the largest expo of its kind in China this year.

  In all, 147 developers from around the country are involved in the show, which is organised by the Real Estate Information and Advisory Company under the Ministry of Construction.

  ''The macro-control measures have brought about positive results several months after they were introduced,'' said Mr Li.

  Beijing issued an administrative decree in July to curb the overheated property sector by ordering a halt to unauthorised development zones, luxury residential projects, golf courses and repetitive projects.

  Mr Li said controls had not been placed directly on excessive investments and speculative activities, but prices in the real estate market had fallen after the introduction of the macro controls.

  The government reports that about 50 per cent of real estate developers, many of which existed only in name, closed their doors. Some were ordered to stop trading and some vanished, under a nationwide check in the industry.

  In Guangdong, 170 companies without development capability were closed and 361 developers were forced to leave Beihai in Guangxi.

  Following the crackdown, the State Council, in an effort to provide guidance in the shift of investment structure, told state-owned banks to offer loans for home ownership projects to alleviate congestion in big cities.

  Mr Li that early this month six vice-ministers of the Ministry of Construction were dispatched throughout the country to check on the effects of the macro controls.

  ''We have just reached the conclusion that the macro control has been implemented properly and we have decided that the policy should basically come to an end at the end of the year,'' Mr Li told developers gathered in Shenzhen.

  But Mr Li said the industry would continue to adhere to the principles of the macro control to readjust its investment structure in order to cultivate a healthy environment.

  He said the government would, in future, rely on economic and market mechanisms instead of administrative measures.

  ''High-class residential developments will still be allowed as long as there is a market demand. As far as golf courses are concerned, the problem is larger because not many of the golf courses throughout the country can make a profit,'' he said.

  On the provisional value-added tax law on land, Mr Li said it was part of the taxation reform to regulate the real estate market through a uniform and standardised mechanism.

  Under the provisional regulations, revenue from the transfer of land-use rights and buildings will be subject to value-added tax under a progressive tax rate in four increments.

  The rates will range from 30 per cent to a maximum of 60 per cent, depending on the level of appreciation in the value of the land and buildings transferred.

  While Mr Li maintained that the tax would not dampen the development of the real estate market, he said the Ministry of Construction would monitor the impact.

  ''The law has just been announced, whether the tax rate is too high or not remains to be seen, if it proves to be too high and has an unfavourable impact after a year's implementation, we will reflect the situation to the government,'' he said.

  Another official from the ministry, Song Chunhua, said the whole land tax package was devised by the State Administration of Taxation.

  ''I believe the purpose is to seek a redistribution of the colossal profits made by developers, and reasonable profits would not be taken away,'' said Mr Song.



Taxing time for land developers