"The land transfer fee is too high in China, and the taxes and fees levied by the government account for 70 percent of house prices. If we could substitute a property tax for the land transfer fee, house prices would drop sharply."

Zhou Tianyong, deputy director of the International Strategy Research Institute in the Party School of the CPC Central Committee, said in a report published on Monday. To address current high housing prices, he suggests changing the land transfer fee to a tax as well as increasing the land supply.

(China Daily 08/16/2012 page2)