China's Xi starts world's biggest experiment to tame wild property market

Xi is leveraging his immense power to try to solve a problem that's dogged policy makers around the globe: spiraling property prices in major metropolitan areas that have fueled rising inequality

Chinese President Xi Jinping has unleashed the world’s biggest experiment aimed at taming runaway property prices.

After Xi used a milestone Communist Party Congress in October to push a housing model that emphasizes renting, a flurry of activity is underway by developers, banks, local governments and even the biggest stock exchange. The push is the first of a package of programs, including a long-awaited property tax, poised to unfold over several years to rein in one of the world’s wildest real estate markets.

“China’s property market is on the brink of tremendous change,” said Shen Jianguang, chief Asia economist at Mizuho Securities