CRI听力:Unified Property Registration Help Uncover Corruption: Observers

A discussion on China's property registration rules has stirred up once again, after the country's cabinet deliberated on a draft regulation.

The rules are to be published to solicit public opinion.

The long-anticipated rules have been hailed by observers as an effective way to uncover graft by officials.

CRI's Wu You has more.

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A new registry is expected to include land, houses, and any other fixed property, as well as property rights such as those covering exploration and exploitation.

A national property registration system is also expected to be established in about three years and operational for information sharing and queries in four years.

Though no further details have been made public, the regulation is already seen as a major push for the central government's anti-corruption campaign.

Chen Jie is a professor from the Shanghai Institute of Finance and Economics.

"First of all the move is to get a clear picture of the overall situation in the property sector, then to regulate it. Under the previous rules, people might have multiple properties registered with different names. That means there will be chaotic information in the legal, financial, and credit systems. "

There has long been a call for a national property registration system in China, as the current one fails to unify all the property information that is registered under various government bodies.

That has created an opportunity for corrupt officials to hide their illegal properties.

The most evident case regards former railway minister Liu Zhijun, who was found to own more than 3 hundred properties, aquired through bribes and abuse of power.

Zou Xiaoyun from the ministry of land and resources believes a transparent registration system is needed, for both the grassroot and official levels.

"For ordinary people, to clarify your property ownership means you can have better protect your own rights. A unified system is also important for all kinds of inquiries, including those out of anti-graft needs."

The central government has stated that the property registration system will not infringe on privacy by arbitrarily making data public.

Ownership certificates that have already been issued will also remain effective under the new rules.

For CRI, this is Wu You.