Since the late 1990s, China has seen radical housing reforms that transformed the enterprise-based housing provision into a comprehensive market-based housing supply. Housing by state-owned enterprises was sold to its workers and the private sector began to develop new housing. However, in response to an affordability crisis, China has introduced several subsidised housing programmes and is developing new housing at an unprecedented pace. Between 2011 and 2015, it built 40.13 million affordable housing units, one third of which were rental homes. Currently, China has an affordable rental stock of only 3%, with a further 10% having subsequently purchased their homes  as through affordable homeownership programmes. 

The current main affordable housing programmes are public rental housing (公共租赁住房); affordable rental housing (保障性租赁房) and shared homeownership housing (共有产权住房), which differ in their programme size, target population, eligibility criteria, financing, and the regions in which they are implemented. 

Public rental housing (PRH) is the oldest housing programme and is offered to predominantly low--income urban residents. To be eligible households need to have a local hukou (household registration) and income below a defined threshold. The eligibility criteria has recently been expanded to include qualified migrant workers (without an urban hukou) and newly employed workers. China is planning to build 6.5 million public rental housing units in 40 major cities in 2021-2025 as part of its 14th Five-Year Plan. 

Affordable rental housing (ARH) targets young and new urban residents on low- to mid-incomes but there are no income criteria or hukou requirements. The programme supports working migrants. In some regions, housing for talent workers (人才公寓) is available to attract highly-skilled working professionals to cities. In addition, a shared home ownership programme (SOH) offers stepped ownership to those on lower incomes who cannot buy a home on the open market (typically 50% share). 

Housing policies and programmes are in principle set by the central government, however, city and regional governments are responsible for their implementation as well as the development and management of affordable housing. Local governments are also responsible for the financing of affordable housing, which includes direct government subsidies and public land in exchange for affordable housing units and capped developers’ profits.

China’s housing stock is very new, with only 3% of dwellings built before 1978, 87% built since 1990, and 60%  since 2000. Housing shortages persist especially in urban areas. In 2020, the per capita housing area of ​​urban households was 39m2, an increase of 27% from 2010, but was still less than the national average of 42m2.