Central Chinese city to build apartments for youth

WUHAN, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Construction of the first housing project targeting young people in central China's Wuhan City, capital of Hubei Province, has begun.

On completion next year, about 50,000 college graduates in the city will be able to buy or rent apartments in the "Yangtze River Youth City" at 20 percent cheaper than market prices, according to the developer.

The 1.66 million-square-meter-project is in the Huangpi District of Wuhan. It is within 15 minutes walking distance from the nearest train station and will provide up to 25,000 apartments and thousands of other properties for commercial use.

Young people who graduated in Wuhan in the last five years are eligible to buy one apartment each, while those who graduated with three years are eligible to rent.

The project was seen as part of the city's efforts to curb housing prices and attract talent.

As of Dec. 15, a total of 282,900 university graduates have landed jobs in the city, up nearly 200 percent of the same period last year.

China has recently taken a set of measures to stabilize the housing market and curb speculation.

On July 20, a notice was issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, saying that measures would be taken in cities with net population inflows, including increasing rental housing supplies and setting up a government-backed home rental service platform.

China's property market has shown signs of cooling as prices have faltered in major cities amid tough government curbs. Enditem