Shenzhen, a blueprint for Chinese cities, must abandon Hong Kong’s property model, warns China’s ‘godfather of real estate’ Meng Xiaosu
- Meng Xiaosu, who spearheaded China’s property reform policies in the 1990s, said flawed property policies were the root of many of Hong Kong’s social ills
- The government of Shenzhen took the idea of selling land-use rights to developers through auctions from Hong Kong
The southern city of Shenzhen, now a blueprint for China’s urban development, should abandon the Hong Kong property model it borrowed decades ago, warned the country’s “godfather of real estate”.
Meng Xiaosu, who spearheaded China’s property reform policies in the 1990s, said Shenzhen and other cities in the Greater Bay Area should learn from the pitfalls of Hong Kong’s market, which he said included cramped conditions, wealth inequality and a chronic shortage of land for development.
“Hong Kong’s economic inequality and disparity has not lessened but in fact has continued to grow in recent years, surpassing many countries and regions. The outlook for the youth in the city is bleak,” said Meng.
“From our perspective, a core reason is that the [Hong Kong] government has neglected the need to provide suitable housing conditions for its citizens, making living conditions harsh in the city.”
His stark warning comes after Shenzhen has been labelled by the central government as a new special economic zone to carry out bolder reforms as a model for other Chinese cities.