CCP Has Mandate of Heaven, USG Does Not

The war for population is rapidly escalating in China. Suzhou is offering 30 percent discounts on homes to high-tech workers.

iFeng: 房价打七折！上海旁边这个名城也来“抢人”了 (The house price is 30% off! This famous city next to Shanghai has also come to "steal people.")

In 2015, Suzhou's human development index reached 0.894, which is equivalent to the 18th Israel in the world.

Today, such a city with a history and development potential that cannot be underestimated has also "humbled itself" and taken part in the war of "robbing others".

According to Suzhou WuzhongEconomic and technological development zoneWechat Official Account News, WuzhongEconomic and technological development zoneMeasures for the Implementation of Excellent Purchase and Sales Management (Trial) (hereinafter referred to as "Measures") have been officially promulgated recently.

...The "Measures" stipulate that Wuzhong District will provide a certain amount of housing every year for high-quality high-tech enterprises and high-level talents to sell at preferential prices. Enterprises or individuals that meet the purchase conditions will be given discounts ranging from 20% to 30% of the actual sales price of the superior purchase upon confirmation.

Up to 30% discount

The "Measures" show that excellent house purchase is mainly aimed at high-quality high-tech enterprises and high-level talents, and should meet the needs of development zone work and pay social security. Individuals and families have no own housing and house purchase records in Suzhou's major cities.

For an application based on an enterprise, a maximum of 10 sets of excellent houses can be purchased, and the individual needs to be an executive and technical backbone in an enterprise that meets the above conditions.

First of all, meet the requirements of the top five global enterprises or the top three domestic enterprises in the subdivided fields. Global Top 500 Enterprises; Newly registered employees of listed enterprises who set up headquarters, research and development centers or industrialization bases in the development zones. In addition, the enterprise must meet the following requirements: a registered capital of at least US$ 5 million or 300 million yuan, an accounting capital of not less than 50%, start production and smooth operation for one year.

If you work in an enterprise that has already settled in the development zone, the enterprise needs to be an industrial enterprise with a main business income of over 5 billion yuan and an average tax of 600,000 yuan or more per mu. Main business income exceeds 10 billion yuan, and the average tax per mu is 500,000 yuan or more; Enterprises listed, that is, successfully listed at home and abroad, and listed subjects in the development zone also enjoy excellent purchase.

Property buyers applying in the name of individuals must first satisfy the requirement of working in the development zone for 2 years, and individuals and families have no record of owning or buying their own houses in Suzhou's major cities.

Talents who enjoy 30% discount include Nobel Prize winners, Highest Science and Technology Awards laureates, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and members of authoritative academic institutions in developed countries.

The talents who enjoy the 25% discount include "Changjiang Scholars Program" Distinguished Professor who settled in the development zone, the winner of the National Outstanding Youth Fund, and the winner of the "100-Person Plan" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Those who enjoy the 20% discount include the "Changjiang Scholars Program" Award Scheme (Young Scholars Program) that has settled in the Development Zone and the National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation Winner.

In line with the enterprise application conditions, there is only one preferential purchase qualification. Each individual who applies for an excellent house purchase can only enjoy the excellent house purchase policy once. If both husband and wife are eligible for purchase, they are limited to purchase a superior set of houses.

The "Measures" also stipulate that the newly-built commercial houses shall be allocated to raise funds, and some newly-sold commercial houses in the Development Zone shall be allocated to purchase houses with good quality according to a certain proportion.

This is the latest in a long line of policies aimed at attracting population as the effects of the one-child policy hits the family-formation demographic. There aren't enough people to go around and cities that attract young, talented workers will win.

New tactics of "robbing people" come out frequently, and housing is still the focus.

It is worth noting that in 2019, more than 60 cities, especially second and third tier cities, have issued various policies on the introduction and settlement of talents, and have continuously introduced policies on the settlement of talents and subsidized purchase of houses.

However, recently, the policy of "robbing people with their houses" has been continuously upgraded all over the country, especially after Hohhot introduced the new policy of "college students buy houses at half price", which has quickly become the focus of heated discussion in the country.

On April 18, the Office of Hohhot Municipal People's Government in Inner Mongolia issued a notice on the "Implementation Measures of Hohhot University Graduates Housing Project (Pilot)". The notice pointed out that "graduates with ordinary full-time bachelor's degree or above (previous 3 years or less) can buy a house at half price".

In addition to Hohhot, Hainan and Ningbo have similar policies of "robbing people with their houses" in 2019.

On the afternoon of March 29, the Hainan Provincial Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Department and the Hainan Provincial Human Resources Development Bureau jointly issued a "Supplementary Notice on Perfecting the Human Resources Housing Policy", relaxing the eligibility and credit requirements for imported human resources to purchase houses in Hainan and stipulating that employees who move in with headquarters enterprises shall enjoy the same treatment as local residents. This means that in the future, employees of some enterprises will not be restricted by household registration when buying houses in Hainan. This is a new way to avoid "Limited Purchasing Order" in Hainan property market.

On April 21, Ningbo, Zhejiang, released the latest talent policy, involving five categories of talents: high-level talents, basic talents, fresh undergraduates and postgraduates, young elite talents, and young returned talents. According to regulations, qualified undergraduates can receive a subsidy of up to 80,000 yuan for the first set of unique housing in their families, while high-level talents can receive a subsidy of up to 600,000 yuan.

There's a lot going on with these stories. China's real estate market, current economic conditions, demographics and long-term development. Similarities to Japan and the West, and also differences. I cannot help but see the contrast between China, where the most livable cities are competing hard for young talented workers and offering discounts on homes, to the United States, where tech companies flood their work forces with H1-B visas to drive down labor costs as housing costs soar, their employees live in shipping containers in feces laden cities.