Shenzhen eyes land reclamation to curb rising housing price

Shenzhen Party chief Ma Xingrui takes part in a local Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference meeting in Shenzhen, Jan 29, 2016. [Photo/CFP]

Shenzhen, a neighboring city of Hong Kong, will reclaim 55 square kilometers of land from the sea to retrain hiking home prices, reported business media outlet 21st Century Business Herald.

"Shenzhen has recently seen its home prices increase rapidly and the city government is taking measures to restrain the prices," said the city's Party chief Ma Xingrui on Wednesday. He added that one major solution for soaring house prices was to provide more land for home construction.

Shenzhen is a city in South China's Guangdong province and a front-runner in China's reform and opening-up.

"Shenzhen is a city of small land area, so the city government eyed on the sea to solve the shortage of land. Except for the land reclamation plan, the city would also bulldoze mountainous areas of 50 square kilometers," Ma said.

"Shenzhen will have more than 100 square kilometers of land. People could expect more from the city's development in the future."

More than 10 million residents live in Shenzhen, a city of around 2,000 square kilometers. The city is about one-eighth the land mass of Beijing, which holds a population of about 21.7 million.

The per square meter home price in Shenzhen reached 48,095 yuan ($7363.34) on average in February, a year-on-year increase of 72.12 percent, according to Shenzhen's urban planning authority.

"The land reclamation plan has been approved by the central government and Guangdong provincial government," Ma said.