Rent control in China from the 50s to the 90s kept rent so low that it did not cover maintenance nor the building of new homes. A housing shortage resulted.

The government started to increase rents in the 1990s.

Another reform measure made the implicit subsidies (through low rents) explicit. Rents were raised significantly and the subsidies became part of the regular income. In the pilot city of Yantai, monthly rent in 1987 was raised from 0.13 to 1.28 yuan per square meter, with a comparable increase of 23.5 percent of basic salary in the form of vouchers. If the value of the voucher was less than the rent, the household had to make up the difference; if it was more, the household could deposit the balance in an interest-bearing account and use it to pay for rent, housing construction and repairs, or the purchase of dwelling units (Fong, 1988b; Gu, 1988; Lim and Lee, 1993)

In 1998 the government ended the rationing of homes and people would now buy homes on the free market. There are public and private rentals.

Generally, one can buy a leasehold, not a property. This includes a right to use, which may also include a right to generate income from renting. Unlike in systems where you own the land, it’s not something that gains value just by existing, and you can’t park wealth in it to transfer on to future generations. It only has value if someone wants to and can live there, and it must be maintained.

(I used this as my main source: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227460868_Rent_Control_And_Its_Reform_In_China )

90% of homes are owner occupied, but people don’t always want to own where they live. seasonal workers, traveling / long term stays, young people figuring their shit out, etc. there are restrictions on putting a place up for rent in china, last i read. the state takes a third of your net and the home itself has to be brought into compliance for energy efficiency and accessibility. the state will extend very low/no interest loans to make these improvements. and if one decides to sell the place, the state takes a third of the increase in value. i think there’s some kind of mechanism to pay down the construction loans with rents too.

i read some document like 3-4 years ago talking about the programs for this as a means to drive more home improvement, basically incentivizing people updating homes but not like in the US where it leads to speculation and flipping as a full time job among assholes. my understanding is there’s a cap on ownership of residences and the state taking a third of the gains while subsidizing construction loans and building a shitload of housing all over keeps housing prices from shooting up.

also, when housing isn’t such a critical asset for building personal wealth as it is in the US/UK/AUS, the calculus of jumping on the property ladder changes dramatically. if an energy efficient place could be had for 5% of my takehome pay in a nice neighborhood with access to civic features and they couldn’t raise rent on me, i can image a lot of people not wanting to fuck with owning and dealing with maintenance/repairs, etc.

I thought 90% of Chinese people owned their home? I’m very new to understanding China myself tbh

From what I understand rents in China are rather minuscule. More a “cover maintenance costs of the building” thing than a rentier economy thing.