Recently, the Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission have jointly promulgated the Circular on Issues concerning the Policies for the Collection of Real Estate Registration Fees (the "Circular") for implementation as of the date of promulgation.
According to the Circular, the real estate registration organ will charge registration fees for real estate when handling the first-time registration, registration of change, registration of transfer, registration of correction and registration of dissidence for six classes of rights to real estate including "the ownership of such constructions and structures as houses and the construction land use right, the residential land use right or sea area use right"; no fee will be charged for the registration of rights to real estate other than those set out in the Circular or the registration of correction caused by the mistake made by the real estate registration organ. The Circular also stipulates eight circumstances under which registration fees for real estate shall be exempted including "where small and micro enterprises (including individual businesses) apply for the registration of real estate" and five circumstances under which half registration fees for real estate shall be charged including "applications for the registration of the ownership of affordable housing and other security housing and of the construction land use right to such housing".