"When their demands have been satisfied, that will help decrease the number of buyers and be helpful in curbing the rise of housing prices," he said.

Qi Ji, the vice-minister of construction, said the central government has decided to allocate 70 percent of land supply this year to build homes for middle- and low-income families and the needy.

Citing Premier Wen Jiabao's work report to the NPC, Qi said China plans to earmark 6.8 billion yuan ($960 million) in its 2008 budget to build low-rent houses for the urban poor in the western and middle parts of the country. The amount is 1.7 billion yuan, or 33 percent, more than last year.

"Local governments are also required to increase funding in this area," Qi said.

With a large population and relatively little land available, Qi said the country has to turn to small- and medium-sized homes that are environmentally friendly to conserve energy and land.

Housing prices have soared in the past few years. Average property prices in the country's 70 large- and medium-sized cities last December were up 10.5 percent from the same month of the previous year, while in Beijing it was up 17.5 percent, figures from the National Development and Reform Commission showed in January.

(China Daily March 18, 2008)