China's President Xi Jinping faces resistance over nationwide property tax

Reuters : Chinese President Xi Jinping faces resistance over a nationwide property tax about curbing housing speculation, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday citing people with knowledge of government policies.

Earlier this year, Xi Luo of China gave Han Zheng, most senior vice-premier, the task of rolling out the levy much more widely, according to the report.

However, Beijing is now sitting at a limited tax plan because of strong pushback, while a proposal with state-provided affordable housing is emerging as an alternative to leasing, the WSJ reported.

An initial proposal to scale back the tax in some 30 cities was tested, the report said.

In an essay in the official Communist Party journal Xiushi, published by the ruling Xinhua news agency on Friday, Xi had called for China to vigorously and steadily advance legislation for a property tax.

China has mulled such tax for more than a decade, but faced resistance from stakeholders including local governments themselves, who fear it would erode property values or trigger a market sell-off.

In internal debates, the feedback to Xi's property tax plan from both the party elites and its rank-and-file members has been overwhelmingly negative, the WSJ report said, citing the people familiar with the deliberations.