The role of the government in housing in socialist China and capitalist Hong Kong

Abstract

Owing to the introduction of privatisation and commodification policies, the housing systems of Hong Kong and China increasingly converge. A new housing regime, a marketised socialist model, is emerging in China. This model differs from the liberal interventionist model of Hong Kong in that the state owns the financial institutions and most housing producers, saving for housing expenditure is compulsory, and hence the government has a greater role in the housing market. The models' similarities are their sizeable public housing sectors, the state ownership of land, the heavy subsidies for the sale of public housing and the establishment of secondary housing markets within the public housing sector.