Shanghai Daily news

Shanghai's residential property prices jumped 19.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, beating out 34 other large and medium-size Chinese cities tracked by the country's top planning agency.
Local home prices climbed at almost double the rate of the other cities over the first three months of 2005, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.
However, the increase was lower than the growth of 28.3 percent for the first quarter of 2004.
National prices for "economical" residential units rose 3.4 percent, "ordinary" homes were up 9.7 percent and "luxury" residences increased 12.9 percent, according to Xinhua news agency.
The cost of second-hand homes grew 10.6 percent year-on-year, while the price of land rose 7.8 percent, and rents were up around 2 percent.
Looking at the overall real estate picture comprising residential, commercial and industrial sectors, prices in Shanghai rose 19.1 percent compared with a 9.8 percent average increase for the other cities. Shanghai came in tops on this measure as well.
Xiamen, Chengdu, Qingdao and Hangzhou were among the other Chinese cities experiencing robust growth in the quarter.
Xiamen in Fujian Province posted a residential property price rise of 16.5 percent, next only to Shanghai. It was followed by the southwestern city of Chengdu in Sichuan Province with a 14.7 percent jump, 13.7 percent in Qingdao, Shandong Province, and 12.4 percent in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province.
Fearing an overheated property market, the government has implemented a series of measures designed to slow down speculative investment.
But the measures will take time to show their full effectiveness, city government spokeswoman Jiao Yang told a regular news briefing this week.
On March 6, Shanghai imposed a 5.5 percent capital gains tax on property sold within the first year of ownership.
On March 17, the People's Bank of China raised the benchmark mortgage interest rate for five year-plus loans from 5.31 percent to 6.12 percent.
Other curbs included a decision by 16 of the city's commercial banks to stop mortgage transfer services for those who sell their houses within the first year after purchase.
In another effort to stem the rapid runup in housing prices, the Ministry of Land and Resources said yesterday that local governments could adjust the amount of the land allocated for development, Xinhua reported.
"The move is designed to increase the housing supply, and therefore to hold down the fast growth in land and housing prices," said Hu Cunzhi, director of the ministry's planning department.
The ministry last year tightly controlled the land supply to reduce fixed-asset investment.