China will "steadily" speed up property tax legislation, Premier Li Keqiang said in his government work report during the 13th National People's Congress, or NPC, on March 5, making a rare move to include the topic among the central government's top tasks for 2018.
Li's speech comes a day after Zhang Yesui, spokesman for the first session of the 13th NPC, told reporters in Beijing that accelerating national property tax legislation is an important task the Party Central Committee is proposing to advance. The country aims to implement tax reform, including the property tax, by 2020, Reuters reported.
The government is holding discussions and consultations needed to craft the real estate tax legislation, Zhang said. He added that authorities involved would aim to complete the preparatory work for a first review by the NPC's standing committee as soon as possible.
Separately, Li reiterated the government's housing policy stance, stating that "houses are built to be inhabited, not for speculation."
The premier said the government will continue to adopt a range of measures in different cities in a manner appropriate to their local conditions to reinforce the steady and healthy development of real estate markets.
