Demand pushes up China land prices

Chinese land prices rose 6% year-on-year in 2004, Bedijing's Land and Resources Bureau said, predicting the upward trend would continue. Residential land prices outstripped those for office and retail development, rising 8.94% to an average of RMB1,988 (US$240.4) per square meter. The bureau said the biggest growth in housing land prices was in Tianjin were prices went up 17.56%, while residential land prices in the Yangtze River Delta rose 12.16%. Strong demand for homes had encouraged developers to replenish their land banks, pushing up prices, the bureau said. In the first 11 months of 2004, national property prices rose 12.5% to RMB2,759 (US$333.75) per square meter. Commenting on the rises, the bureau said the growth in land prices remained at a healthy level, taking into account China's 9.5% rise in gross domestic product last year.