The following quote by Dr. Zhao Yanqing (赵燕菁), Director of the Planning Bureau of Xiamen City, Fujian Province is from his interview with Beijing-based paper First Finance Daily (Yicai) on September 2, 2010, translated by CDT:
Our land finance system (土地财政), based on the monopoly of a primary land market, is the only one in human history, and our success is also unprecedented in human history. In the past twenty years, has anywhere in the world history experienced the same speed and scale of urbanization?
Why are developed countries so worried about China but not India? That is because China has institutional innovation, and created a government model which is unprecedented in human history. This model is what they can not imitate!
Under the land finance system (土地财政), local governments have the power to sell usage rights to land, which has become a major source of income for local governments.
According to yicai.com, Dr. Zhao has a doctorate degree from Cardiff University in the UK and also is a member of the executive board of China’s Real Estate Study Association and a Professor at Xiamen University.
