Ownership of houses in China has changed greatly in the past decade. In the past, most houses were stateowned. But now, private houses are everywhere. As is shown in the chart above, in 1990, the citys houses were mainly state-owned, with a percentage of 75. This percentage became 60 in the year 1995 and then dropped sharply to 20 in 2000. At the same time, the number of private houses has soared up to 80 percent.

There are mainly two reasons that account for this rapid change. Firstly, the government has been forwarding the policy to support private houses programs. These programs have proved to be very important in developing Chinas economy. Secondly, with the development of economy, peoples standard of living has risen. They want to have their own houses to satisfy their needs.

The change has enabled more people to enjoy larger living space. At the same time, people feel pressure to make more money so that they can buy their own houses.