Hangzhou residents angry about villa subsidies for rich

A new policy in Hangzhou meant to retain its rich and famous residents by offering them rent-free villas in a national wetland park has irritated city residents, state media reported. Under the policy, technical experts, famous artists and executives from leading state-owned and private companies can live rent-free for five years in villas in the city’s Xixi National Wetland Park and Baimahu Ecological Creation City. The villas average 300 square meters in living area. The land is supposedly earmarked for the local government’s affordable housing program to benefit low-income residents. The city is also subsidizing housing for professionals "who have made prominent contributions" and have turned out to be corporate leaders by selling them houses at half the market value. According to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences issued Tuesday, 85% of Chinese households who want to buy new apartments cannot afford one.