Five new patches of residential land in.......>

CHINA: Five new patches of residential land in Shanghai allowed to be developed

for rental housing only were acquired Tuesday in a bid by the state-owned

Shanghai Land Co., the Economic Observer reported on Wednesday. Six pieces of

residential land sold previously in Shanghai were also acquired by state-owned

companies. The sale of the land was in line with the Chinese government's

encouragement to state-owned enterprises to take the lead in the residential

rental property market. China lacks a good profit-gaining model in the rental

property sector for property developers, and letting SOEs take the lead is a

good choice because private companies would face  great pressure in financing

and costs, the report quoted an unidentified manager for a long-term rental

apartment company as saying. (Economic Observer)