Hainan tightens non-property land supplies to boost island’s real economy

South China’s Hainan Province is planning to set time limits on land supply for non-real estate use, a move that aims to stimulate the development of the island’s real economy, said an industry analyst.

The Hainan provincial government rolled out guidance on the implementation of industrial projects and land use access on Monday, pointing out an “elastic period” for some land use that cannot exceed three periods, with the first period generally not being more than five years, domestic news site thepaper.cn reported on Monday.

“The ultimate goal for the stringent system on non-real estate land supply is to extinguish land waste and promote industrial development, maximizing the efficiency of land utilization,” Chen Gaige, an industry analyst who has been engaging in Hainan’s real estate sector for years, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

According to Chen, Hainan’s non-real estate land mainly refers to industrial parks, which take up a big chunk, but they have been performing poorly in regard to attracting business investment over recent years.

Most of these park areas cannot meet the targets as required in industry standards, including production value and tax revenue, said Chen. “The fact that the land on the island cannot be fully used means it has gone to waste.”

As the newly released guidance stipulates, for modern service industries such as tourism, convention and exhibition, medical and health care, and low-carbon manufacturing, the first period can be extended to no more than 10 years. For military-civilian integration projects, the first phase can be extended to no more than 15 years.