Think tank: Local governments not committed to affordable housing

A think tank with ties to China’s State Council issued a report alleging that local governments were shirking from their duties to implement Beijing’s affordable housing program, The Wall Street Journal reported. Instead of focusing on new low-cost housing for migrant workers and local residents in need, local governments across China have devoted their attention to the residential property market, said the China Development Research Foundation, a Beijing-based think tank. “Local governments … neglect the construction of public housing even as they are pushed by the central government to implement public-housing policies,” the report argued. The think tank also criticized poor construction, as well as rushed design and implementation of affordable housing. Beijing has set a goal of making some 36 million low-cost housing units between 2011 and 2015 as rising property values price many low-income residents out of the market.