Real estate is king for China's cities as tax revenues stumble

Beijing and Shanghai reap booming property markets while others struggle

20210218N Apartment construction REUTERS

A man rides past a residential construction site in Beijing, which boosted land sale receipts by 15% last year. © Reuters

IORI KAWATE, Nikkei staff writer

BEIJING -- China's regional governments are taking in proceeds from land sales that are equivalent to more than half of the country's combined tax revenue as coronavirus relief measures diminish traditional intake from levies.

This has buoyed the budgets of big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, which are seeing sustained building booms, but has done little to help other cities where real estate markets are in a funk.

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