Recently, the Housing Provident Fund Management Center of the Central Government has distributed the Circular on Matters Concerning Adjusting the Policy for Individual Housing Loans via the Housing Provident Fund to Further Upgrade Services (the "Circular") which takes effect from April 15, 2019.The Circular states that stronger support will be shown to satisfying basic demands for housing consumption, adding that for employees to buy policy-based houses, preferential treatment in respect of the loan quota, determination of the number of houses in their possession, and the time period required for the examination and approval process, will be provided when they apply for loans. Further, it is clearly stated in the Circular to adjust requirements for the duration of contributions to the housing dividend fund up to the time when a loan application is filed; specifically, regarding the length of time for which contributions to the housing dividend fund have been made when an application is filed for a loan, the previous requirement, reading that "a loan applicant shall have opened and held a housing dividend fund account for 12 months, and have made contributions in full for 12 consecutive months (or for six consecutive months for the purchase of a policy-based house) before the submission of such application", is adjusted to read: "a loan applicant shall have made contributions to the housing dividend fund for six consecutive months or longer when he or she applies for a loan". Moreover, the Circular notes that efforts will be made to adopt differentiated loan policies, adjust the term of the loan and the upper limit of the monthly repayment, and provide convenience for employees when they handle relevant matters.