25/11/2019
- Unit 121 on Lanman Hutong, about 10 minutes’ drive from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, changed hands last month for 1.28 million yuan
- The new owner bought a 5.6-square metre (72 square feet) cubicle covered in bathroom tiles large enough to fit a bunk bed, with standing room only
A view of the 5.6 square metre cubicle-size home in Beijing on 15 November 2019. The home sold for 1.28 million yuan at auction. Photo: Louise Moon
A subdivided home in a run-down alley in Beijing recently sold for a record price at auction, as eager buyers piled in to get hold of its much sought-after address to gain access to some of the Chinese capital’s best schools.
A subdivided unit at No. 121 Lanman Hutong, about 10 minutes’ drive from Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, changed hands on November 11 for 1.28 million yuan (US$182,400) after 136 rounds of furious bidding during an auction in Beijing.
For 230,000 yuan per square metre (HK$23,850 per square foot), the new owner bought a 5.6-square metre (72 square feet) cubicle covered in bathroom tiles large enough to fit a bunk bed, with standing room only. That’s smaller than even Hong Kong’s notorious micro-apartments – also known derisively as shoebox flats or nano flats – which average about 200 square feet. A standard car parking space measures 126 square feet.
What the dilapidated space does have is an address that entitles its owner to a hukou, the household registration that is the prerequisite for access to schools, homes, civil service jobs, public health care and almost every aspect of daily life in the Chinese capital.
The alley on which No. 121 Lanman Hutong sits in Beijing on 15 November 2019. Photo: Louise Moon
Lanman Hutong, or the Alley of the Brilliant Drapes, sits in Xicheng district, a chequerboard neighbourhood criss-crossed with hundreds of alleyways that boasts three of the five highest-ranked schools in the city.
According to Beijing’s real estate regulations, one square metre entitles the owner a
hukou. That fuelled the rush by parents to buy property in the area to qualify for sending their children to such eminent schools as the Beijing No. 4 High School, whose alumni include
former Chongqing Commissar Bo Xilai, former China Development Bank president Chen Yuan and Citic’s chairman Kong Dan. Most of these bolt holes are now unoccupied after they have served their purposes, local residents said.
Lanman Hutong, or the Alley of the Brilliant Drapes, in the Xicheng district of Beijing, about 10 minutes drive from the Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City, on 15 November 2019. Photo: Louise Moon
The auction result offers a peek into the growing speculative bubble in Beijing’s property market, a development that has defied more than two years of policymakers’ attempts to control. The average price of newly built homes rose 4.3 per cent in October to 60,894 yuan per square metre in Beijing, according to China’s statistics bureau data and Lianjia, a major real estate broker.
“Beijing’s homes have always been expensive, [particularly so] in Xicheng, where only the ultra-wealthy can afford to stay,” said Midland Beijing’s analyst Zhao Jia. “A million yuan is not expensive at all, to find space that close to the Forbidden City.”
Beijing’s average home price is equivalent to 24.9 years of the city’s median net income, excluding expenditures, according to data by E-House China Research and Development Institution. Hong Kong, the world’s most expensive urban centre to live and work in, requires 21 years of average income to affordable the average abode, according to the Demographia International Housing Affordability Study, as the city also boasts of a higher income and lower tax rate.
A tiny alleyway leading to No. 121 Lanman Hutong, which sold earlier this week for 1.28 million yuan in Beijing. Photo: Louise Moon
“It is not that easy for the average person to own property in Beijing,” said Midland’s Zhao. “For most homes in the city, 1 million yuan is only enough for a down payment.”
Unit 121 on Lanman Hutong is located among a cluster of siheyuan, as Beijing’s traditional courtyard homes are called. Bicycles, old washing machines and other household junk are piled along the maze of alleyways leading to the ground-floor unit.
Its auction drew 29 bidders starting from 470,000 yuan. The final winning bid prices the Lanman cubicle 35 per cent higher than a 100-million yuan villa with view of the Summer Palace in Beijing’s outskirts, on a per square foot basis.
To be sure, the unidentified buyer of the unit may be speculating for a quick flip, when the property is torn down, said Zhang Dawei, an analyst at Centaline Property Agency.
“This is more like a gamble, betting on the unit being demolished,” Zhang said. “If the odds are good, the buyer can pocket the [compensation], which could be several times what he bought it for. Even if it is not demolished in the short term, it is not bad to have some asset in the heart of Beijing.”
Source: SCMP
Posted in access, Alley, bathroom, Beijing, best schools, Bo Xilai, Brilliant Drapes, bunk bed, Chinese capital, Chongqing Commissar, civil service jobs, daily life, demolished, desperation, every aspect, Forbidden City, Home, homes, Household registration, hukou, Lanman Hutong, nano flats, prerequisite, public health care, record, rundown, schools, sells, shoebox flats, sign, Space, standard car parking space, standing room, standing-room only, Summer Palace, Tiananmen Square, tiles, Uncategorized |
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30/06/2019
- Veterans of Sino-Japanese war – which ended 74 years ago – among those likely to be set free, state media says
- Nine categories of convicts will be pardoned, but actual numbers will not be disclosed until cases have been reviewed by the courts
China’s amnesty will be no benefit to people like Bo Xilai, the former Chongqing party boss who was sentenced to life imprisonment for corruption in 2013. Photo: AFP
There will be no pardons for people jailed under President Xi Jinping’s sweeping anti-corruption campaign, Chinese state media said late Saturday after Beijing announced a prisoner amnesty as part of its celebrations for the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, which falls on October 1.
While the report did not give any indication of how many people would be set free – the cases must first be reviewed by the courts – it said the amnesties would be granted to those who fell into one of nine categories.
These include convicts aged 75 and above who are suffering from a physical disability, people who fought in the Sino-Japanese war – which ended in 1945 – or in the Chinese civil war, which ended in 1949 and led to the creation of modern-day China.
Other categories include prisoners sentenced as minors to terms of not more than three years, and those who were convicted of a crime while acting in self-defence and, again, sentenced to a maximum of three years.
The Communist Party declared a “crushing victory” in Xi’s war on corruption. Photo: EPA-EFE
Anyone convicted of a serious or violent crime, including murder, rape, kidnapping, corruption, arson and drug trafficking is ineligible for the amnesty, the report said. This group also encompasses those who refused to confess to their crimes or show remorse, and anyone deemed still a threat to society.
The amnesty is the second of Xi’s presidency and ninth in the country’s history. The previous seven were all during Mao Zedong’s leadership.
China considers prisoner amnesty for 70th anniversary
In 2015, about
to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Sino-Japanese war, which also marked the end of World War II. Though, as will be the case this time around, none of them were serving prison terms for corruption.
A spokesperson for the National People’s Congress, which approved the amnesty, was quoted by Xinhua as saying that Beijing hoped the pardons would have a positive political, legal and social impact.
“Considering the fight against corruption remains a challenge, and in order to maintain the pressure of the crackdown, it would be inappropriate to grant amnesties to corruption convicts,” the spokesperson said.
In December, the Communist Party declared a “crushing victory” in Xi’s war on corruption, which since 2012 has seen more than 1.3 million party officials – from powerful “tigers” to low-ranking “flies” – rounded up and convicted.
Meng Hongwei, the former president of Interpol, pleaded guilty earlier this month to taking bribes totalling more than US$2 million.
Among the most high profile officials to have been snared are former Politburo Standing Committee member and domestic security tsar
, former Politburo member
, and former vice-chairman of the Central Military Commission
.
Former Politburo member and Chongqing party boss
, who was detained just months before Xi rose to power in 2012, is also serving a life sentence for taking millions of US dollars in bribes.
, the former president of Interpol, looks set to become the latest senior official to join the convicts’ club after pleading guilty in court earlier this month to taking bribes totalling more than 14 million yuan (US$2 million).
Source: SCMP
Posted in amnesty, Bo Xilai, Central Military Commission (CMC), China announces, Chongqing party boss, Communist Party, corrupt officials, Interpol, Mao Zedong’s leadership, nation’s 70th anniversary, No joy, Politburo Standing Committee member, President Xi Jinping, to mark, Uncategorized, Veterans of Sino-Japanese war, World War II |
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