Wuxi district offers unprecedented US$1.47 million subsidy to boost flagging housing market, attract top talent

Wuxi city’s Liangxi district is offering the subsidy to ‘high level’ and ‘highly skilled’ immigrants, according to WeChat post

Offer comes as Chinese cities try to loosen curbs amid stagnation in the property market and the economy

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Successful applicants will need to work full-time in Liangxi district and not have any previous residence record or housing transaction record in Wuxi within the past five years. Photo: Shutterstock Images

Published: 8:30pm, 13 May 2022

Chinese cities are looking to boost their property markets as well as attract top talent by offering unprecedented housing subsidies of up to 10 million yuan (US$1.47 million).

Wuxi city’s Liangxi district is offering the subsidy to “high level” and “highly skilled” immigrants, according to a notice the district government posted on WeChat on Wednesday. The city is located near Shanghai in China’s eastern Jiangsu province.

The district joins a number of Chinese cities looking to attract talent and boosting their property markets. Its offer follows a similar proposition made by Chongqing city’s Yuzhong district earlier this week. The city in central China is also offering a 10 million yuan housing subsidy to top talent with “extraordinary contributions”.

“[Wuxi] is the city with the strongest housing subsidy in the country,” said Yan Yuejin, research director at E-house China Research and Development Institute. “In the past, housing subsidies were basically 2 million to 5 million yuan at most.”

Liangxi district’s offer comes as Chinese cities try to loosen curbs amid stagnation in the property market and the economy. Between January and April, the number of real estate policies issued to ease tight property sector curbs reached 238 times, an increase of 28 per cent over the 186 policies issued in the same period last year, according to Centaline Property Agency. More easing policies were expected in 2022 and they would refresh records for such issuances, the agency added.