The key to solving the urgent problem of accommodating a large number of low-income urban residents is to build low-rent houses, a real estate giant told policymakers yesterday.

"Low-rent housing has been successful in Hong Kong for years. I don't see why it cannot work here," said Vincent Lo, chairman of the Hong Kong-based Shui On Group, during the second session of the China People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing.

Known as the brain behind the birth of Shanghai's Xintiandi, a 20,000-sq-m development project that has transformed the backwaters of the metropolis into a flashy address, Lo said if the country is serious about helping its poor, "low-rent housing is the only answer".