For decades, local governments in China have relied heavily on “land finance”—selling long-term land-use rights to fund rapid infrastructure development and urbanization. However, as the real estate market cools and land-driven growth reaches its limits, urban planners and economists are shifting toward a spatial-temporal framework. This emerging approach treats land not merely as a one-time financial asset, but as a dynamic resource whose value can be optimized across both physical space and longer-term time horizons.
Xinhua News Agency reported that China’s Ministry of Natural Resources says the country’s urban and rural development has entered a stage increasingly reliant on existing land and assets, requiring a shift away from traditional policies focused on expanding land supply. Vice Minister Zhuang Shaoqin said spatial planning should create new opportunities for growth from existing resources and shift the development model from “land finance” toward higher-quality “spatial-temporal economics.”
During the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, China will seek to make better use of existing land and spatial assets by increasing their value through safety, coordination, intensive use, distinctive development, and resource sharing. Officials said local governments should unlock the value of distinctive resources, revitalize underused spatial assets, optimize functional layouts, and develop innovative industrial communities, business districts, and high-quality living areas.
Vice Minister Zhang Wentong said land policy would also shift from one-time land sales toward long-term asset management. The realization of resource value would move from relying primarily on immediate returns to combining current income with long-term operating revenue. The government plans to coordinate market mechanisms with government policies and strengthen efforts to revitalize existing assets, using new demand to drive new supply and new supply to generate new demand as part of broader urban renewal efforts.
Source: Xinhua, September 22, 2026
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