China's nationwide property database comes into effect

China's long-expected national property database has started to connect information stations across the country, according to Ministry of Natural Resources. 

There have been 3,001 property registration stations in 335 cities and 2,853 counties serving more than 300,000 enterprises and individuals averagely each day, according to latest statistics. 

The unified real estate database not only helps simplify the whole registration procedure, but also facilitates the real-time disclosure of property owners' holdings, which has been regarded as vital for property market management and a major step to fight against corruption.

With the national database, individual ownership of houses and house mortgage records in China will be traceable so speculation will be effectively restrained under the country’s property-purchasing limits. 

Meanwhile, a unified property registration system is believed to force corrupt local officials to disclose properties purchased with illicit funds.

In 2014, China issued rules requiring real-estate owners to register their holdings with authorities, requiring for a unified national registration system for various types of real estate to replace the old diverse and localized system.