CHENGDU, Feb. 14 (NBD) -- Data from the Ministry of Land and Resources of China shows that the country's land transfer slipped 5.9 percent year over year to 208,200 hectares last year, but the contract value jumped 19.3 percent to 3.56 trillion yuan (517.4 billion US dollars). 

This translates into an increase of around 575.9 billion yuan (83.7 billion US dollars) in contract prices against the background of a decrease of 13,100 hectares in land transfer. 

According to the authority's statistics, China's total supply of state-owned land for construction use slipped 2.9 percent to 518,000 hectares last year. 

Yan Yuejin, director of the think tank center of the E-house China R&D Institute, told NBD that reducing land supply is primarily aimed at making the best use of existing land resources and promoting the sale of existing commodity housing. 

Given factors like stabilizing housing prices, some big cities are predicted to actively supply land for construction use this year, Yan added.  

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn