China’s comprehensive realization of unified registration of real estate： what does it mean for ordinary people to find out the real estate family background？

　　On April 25, according to Xinhua News Agency, Wang Guanghua, Minister of Natural Resources, announced at the National Conference on Registration of Natural Resources and Real Estate Ownership on April 25 that China has fully realized the unified registration of real estate.

　　This means that after ten years of hard work, a unified real estate registration system covering all land spaces and all real estate rights has been fully established, from decentralization to unification, from urban houses to rural homesteads, from real estate to natural resources.

　　China’s unified real estate registration system is basically formed, with the Civil Code as the guide, the Provisional Regulations on Real Estate Registration as the core, and the implementation rules, operational norms and local regulations as the supporting tools.

　　Unified registration of real estate to find out the "family property" of real estate

　　Li Yujia, chief researcher of Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center, pointed out that the primary significance of carrying out unified registration of real estate lies in implementing the Property Law, ensuring the security of real estate transactions and protecting the legitimate property rights of real estate owners; Secondly, integrate the information of real estate fragments scattered among various functional departments, find out the "family background" of real estate, provide basic data for policy formulation and implementation, and improve the efficiency and level of government governance. The greatest significance of carrying out unified registration of real estate lies in providing a foundation for modern national public finance and laying a foundation for China’s future tax reform.

　　The Central Finger Research Institute pointed out that in early China, every kind of real estate, such as land, grassland and forest, had corresponding registration system and certificate standard, which was prone to problems such as complicated management and disputes over real estate rights. As early as the Property Law promulgated in 2007, the unified registration system of real estate was formally put forward.

　　In March 2013, the Plan for Institutional Reform and Functional Transformation of the State Council proposed "strengthening the basic system construction and establishing a unified real estate registration system". In November of the same year, the the State Council executive meeting decided to integrate the real estate registration responsibilities scattered in multiple departments, and put forward the "four unifications" reform tasks of unified registration institutions, unified registration books, unified registration basis and unified information platform.

　　In 2016, official website, the Ministry of Land and Resources, issued the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Provisional Regulations on Real Estate Registration, marking the beginning of the full implementation of the unified real estate registration system. In 2018, the Ministry of Natural Resources announced that the basic platform for real estate registration information management has achieved national networking.

　　Jia Kang, a researcher at China Academy of Fiscal Science and the founding president of Huaxia Institute of New Supply Economics, pointed out that the unified registration of real estate was a clear thing to be done before. Now the official announcement that China has fully realized the unified registration of real estate must have its own specific internal considerations, but from the official information, it has not been linked to specific reform management and other aspects.

　　Jia Kang believes that from the perspective of modern governance of the country, the unified registration of real estate is an indispensable basic work. In terms of policy optimization, promoting reform, management and regulation, it is necessary to fully and truly grasp the situation first.

　　What does it have to do with real estate tax?

　　What is the relationship between national unified registration of real estate and real estate tax?

　　Jia Kang mentioned that the comprehensive realization of unified registration of real estate is logically linked to the promotion of real estate tax reform in the future. As the support of basic information, there is no doubt, but at present, whether the comprehensive realization of unified registration of real estate will immediately lead to real estate tax reform can only wait for the official specific implementation plan.

　　Chen Wenjing, director of market research of the Central Finger Research Institute, mentioned that the preconditions for collecting real estate tax include the unified registration of real estate in China and the nationwide networking. This time, the Ministry of Natural Resources pointed out that the comprehensive realization of unified registration of real estate in China means that the preconditions for collecting real estate tax are further improved. However, judging from the current real estate market, the national real estate market has recovered in the first quarter, and the recovery of supply-side indicators such as development investment and new construction is still weak, and the drag effect of real estate on the macro economy is still there. Since April, the activity of the new housing market has been insufficient. According to the data of the middle finger, the transaction area of new housing in key 50 cities in Zhou Du has decreased by about 20% compared with that in March. The sentiment and expectation of buyers are still unstable, and the short-term real estate market still needs policy support. At present, it is not the right time to conduct real estate tax pilot.

　　According to Chen Jie, director of the Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Research Center of Shanghai Jiaotong University, at present, there is not much inevitable relationship between the full realization of unified real estate registration and the real estate tax levy. Real estate tax is a local tax. Previously, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC) authorized the State Council to carry out the pilot work of real estate tax reform in some areas, but the unified registration of real estate is not entirely residential, but a unified registration system of real estate covering all real estate rights, so it is unnecessary to interpret it excessively. It can only be said that the unified registration of real estate is a technical support for the future real estate tax collection. As for when and where the real estate tax will be done, it is necessary to comprehensively consider various conditions, including market environment, institutional support and public recognition.

　　Zhao Xiuchi, a researcher at capital university of economics and business Mega-city Economic Development Research Institute and vice-president and secretary-general of Beijing Real Estate Law Society, believes that it is the general trend to realize the unified registration of real estate in an all-round way, which provides a basis for fully grasping real estate information and scientific decision-making, and also provides conditions for the collection of stock real estate tax. However, at present, the property market is in a downturn, and many policies to support the property market need to be introduced to promote the recovery of the property market and achieve a virtuous circle. At present, it is not appropriate to increase taxes, but to reduce taxes. Whether and how much to levy in the future should also be considered from the perspective of the whole real estate tax burden. On the whole, with the land transfer fee, the tax burden of the whole real estate is not light, and the tax burden should not be increased blindly.

　　What is the relationship with the people?

　　Besides real estate tax, what is the relationship between real estate registration and the people?

　　According to China Economic Net, after the registration of real estate is completed, citizens can make one-step inquiries at the designated office without going anywhere, so as to avoid overlapping or conflict of property rights. The unified registration of real estate is the basis of a series of major reforms, such as giving farmers more property rights, protecting farmers’ usufructuary rights of homestead, establishing a unified urban and rural construction land market, and collectively operating construction land "agricultural land entering the market".

　　In addition, many people hope that real estate registration can curb official corruption. The above-mentioned report of China Economic Net quoted experts as saying that although the original intention of unified registration of real estate is not to fight corruption, if the judicial organs, discipline inspection and supervision organs and so on inquire according to law, they can indeed quickly inquire about all real estate under the name of people, which will have a deterrent effect on corrupt officials.