Related stories

Official: Reports of Resident Relocations Totally Wrong

2004/06/24

Reports carried on major international news wires on March 11 claiming hundreds of thousands of Beijingers would be forcibly relocated to make way for the 2008 Games were categorically wrong, said the capital s housing and land supremo.

Such reports do not reflect the real condition of household resettlement in the massive urban construction in Beijing, said Miao Leru, Director of the Beijing Municipal Administration of State Land, Resources and Housing, at a press conference.

Miao took pains to clarify for the assembled international media that the large-scale house demolition and household relocation program is in accord with Beijings long-term development planning policy, and is not purely for the Beijing 2008 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

A total of 6,000 households will be relocated due to the construction of Olympics venues. So far, 5,000 families have been removed, he said.

Miao also made clear rumours of real estate developers colluding with the government on demolition projects are completely unfounded. We welcome reports over corruption in household relocation from the public, the official said.

The truth is over 400,000 households have been relocated since 1991 and their housing area has soared from 20 square metres to 60 square metres per family on average, Miao said. The official also pointed out that the financial compensation paid to relocated residents was higher than the average market value of similar real estate projects in the same area.

For example, in the demolition project for the third phase of the World Trade Tower in Beijing, the price of real estate in the area was 3,800 yuan (US$459) to 5,760 yuan (US$696) per square metre. But the actual compensation for the residents there is 6,400 yuan (US$773) per square metre, he said.



	Article featured in Business Beijing, April 2004 Publication sponsored by Information Office of the Beijing Municipal Government, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Development & Reform Commission of Beijing Municipality, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (Beijing Sub-Council)