Two Sessions Suggestions | National People's Congress Representative Fan Yun: Suggest gradually eliminating shared area over the next 5 years and promoting differentiated urban renewal

China Economic Journal reporter Shi Jian reports from Beijing National People's Congress representative, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Urban Renewal Expert Committee, and Chairman of Shanghai Fushen Evaluation Consulting Group, Fan Yun, interviewed / photo The 2026 government work report proposes to "focus on stabilizing the real estate market," orderly promote the construction of "good houses," and advance urban renewal with high quality. National People's Congress representative, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Urban Renewal Expert Committee, and Chairman of Shanghai Fushen Evaluation Consulting Group, Fan Yun, stated in an interview with reporters from China Business Journal that the housing efficiency rate is the key to promoting the construction of "good houses." The construction of "good houses" can drive housing sales and bring benefits to homebuyers. She suggested gradually eliminating shared area during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period to promote housing sales. The reporter noted that the government work report mentioned the orderly promotion of safe, comfortable, green, and intelligent "good houses." This is the second consecutive year that the term "good houses" has been included in the government work report. "I suggest reforming the shared area policy, eliminating the allocation of public area, so that the public can receive the actual living area without having to bear property management fees for shared areas. This is a common appeal," Fan Yun said. "For example, in the past two years, there was a luxury residence in Shanghai with a minimum area of 350 square meters, but the owners' housing efficiency rate was only 66% to 67%, resulting in over 200 square meters of actual usable space. However, the owners had to pay property management fees based on 350 square meters at a rate of 20 yuan per square meter. Now, with the gradual implementation of the 'good houses' policy, the housing efficiency rate can reach about 93% to 94%, which actually promotes the cancellation of shared areas in housing sales across the country, allowing the public to directly benefit, meaning that for the same amount of money, they can get a larger living space." Fan Yun believes that "good houses" also need to be supported by quality property management and a well-developed community environment, allowing the elderly to live comfortably and children to have places to play, achieving community sharing. When buying a house, location is a key consideration, and urban development can increase investment in public facility support to promote the organic combination of "good houses," "good property," and "good communities." When discussing urban renewal, Fan Yun stated that in Shanghai, special bonds and other government funds have strongly promoted urban renewal work. More old residential buildings are being equipped with elevators, a number of enterprises and institutions are opening public spaces, and the number of parks is increasing, providing more places for the public and tourists to walk and sightsee. She believes that in the process of promoting urban renewal, it is also necessary to further listen to the opinions and suggestions of community residents. Fan Yun introduced to reporters that after she proposed related suggestions for the transformation of urban villages in 2024, the National Financial Regulatory Administration specifically coordinated to solve the funding issues for 26 urban village transformation projects in Shanghai, promoting a total of 40 urban village transformation projects in the city with funding support from 2024 to 2025. "The national financing policy for urban village transformation should not be one-size-fits-all, and should focus on supporting areas like Shanghai that have high maturity and good risk prevention capabilities." "Fan Yun said. "In 2025, 3,295 old residential buildings in Shanghai will install elevators, and at that time, various difficulties were encountered, but we can further listen to the opinions of the community residents and strengthen communication. In terms of fund usage, we need to maximize its effectiveness and use the money where it matters most," Fan Yun further stated. In addition, public safety, especially fire safety in high-rise buildings, has become the core area of Fan Yun's recommendations. "Now there are more and more high-rise buildings, but there is a serious shortage of rescue equipment for buildings over 100 meters. Currently, Shanghai only has one aerial ladder truck in Pudong that can extinguish fires at a height of 101 meters. Due to its weight and size, it cannot cross the river to come to Puxi, and in Puxi, there is only one aerial ladder truck that can extinguish fires at a height of 70 meters." (Editor: Li Hui Review: He Shasha Proofreading: Zhang Guogang)