The Zhejiang provincial government recently released a guideline on the development of affordable apartments for rent, specifying that 1.2 million apartments will be constructed in the province during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period.

The apartment quotas for Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jinhua, Jiaxing, and Wenzhou are 330,000, 213,000, 154,000, 137,000, as well as 131,000 respectively.

The guideline also stipulates that over 30 percent of the apartments that will be added during this period in the province's major cities with a high net inflow of population, such as Hangzhou and Ningbo, should be affordable apartments for rent. The corresponding minimum percentage requirement for the province's other key cities is 15 percent.

The affordable apartments for rent mainly target new immigrants and young people who possess no immovable properties. Most of these apartments that will be constructed will be no more than 70 square meters in area.