Two parcels of land in Shanghai allocated for the city's residential leasing scheme were sold to two State-owned companies today. The land is expected to provide space for at least 1,897 residential rental units, signaling the city's first step in its ambition to develop about 700,000 apartments for lease during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period.

The two pieces of land, which are in Pudong New Area's Zhangjiang area and Jiading district, were sold on the same date to Shanghai Zhangjiang (Group) Co Ltd and Shanghai Jiading New City Development Co Ltd, respectively, both state-owned companies, the Shanghai Observer reported.

The 65,000 square meters of land in Zhangjiang was sold for 724 million yuan,($109.3 million) or 5,569 yuan per square meter in gross floor area. And the Jiading parcel, at 28,500 sq m, was purchased for 424 million yuan, or 5,950 yuan per sq m in gross floor area.

In an attempt to carry out the central government's stress on "house is not used for 'stir-frying' or speculating, but used for living", Shanghai is speeding up development of leased homes. In its 13th Five-Year period for residential planning, Shanghai is set to add about 1.7 million units of new residences in a variety of forms, with about 700,000 designed for rent.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn