ANNUAL CONGRESS 2025

Financialising Land: China’s Urban-Rural Property Market Dynamics and Government Strategies in Planetary Urbanisation

Not scheduled

20m

Yildiz Technical University, Istanbul

Oral Track 15 | PROPERTY MARKET ACTORS

Speaker

Ms Yue Liu (School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University Belfast)

Description

Land financialisation and real estate investment are vital in shaping China’s rapid urbanisation. While extensive research has focused on urban property speculation and land finance in China, less attention has been paid to how these processes penetrate rural areas and blur urban-rural boundaries under state-driven governance. This study addresses this gap by analysing how China has used the advantage of party-state authority to navigate market dynamics and crises in the real estate market, contributing to the global discourse on planetary urbanisation and land financialisation.

This research explores the working logic of land financialisation and real estate speculation in China, highlighting the state’s dual role as regulator and actor in property markets. It employs mixed methods, combining secondary economic data and primary observation data. Economic data is from China’s official statistics and international organisations such as the OECD and IMF. Non-participant observation data was collected from July to September 2023 in Zhejiang and Sichuan, with 18 villages in 2 provinces.

Key findings reveal that deregulation of real estate markets in 2008 facilitated China’s recovery from the global financial crisis, while anti-speculation policies during the COVID-19 pandemic reduced predatory capital speculation and social inequalities. In 2024, China’s housing purchase and lending restrictions were relaxed again, similar to the post-pandemic neoliberal path of fiscal stimulus and monetary easing followed by the re-establishment of the market. This action has intensified local governments and rural organisations’ reliance on land markets and place competition to address welfare and development pressures. These practices reflect the growing convergence of urban and rural governance and land use under neoliberal capital accumulation.

China's evolving land and real estate policies highlight the State’s selective application of neoliberal tools and efforts to balance economic growth and social equality. By examining the interplay of State intervention, land financialisation, and real estate speculation in China, this research provides critical insights into the role of land use and property markets in shaping planetary urbanisation.