Editorial: Housing pension is not real estate tax, public accounts do not need LBX Pharmacy Chain Joint Stock to pay money. Don't misunderstand it anymore!

In recent days, the official mention of the housing pension system that was supposed to be studied and established as early as 2022 has been seriously misinterpreted! Opening up the circle of friends and video platforms, various rumors, lies, and "interpretations" are flying all over the place. Some self-media and video bloggers are seizing the opportunity to boost popularity and chase traffic, spreading rumors and misleading the public, creating social panic. The fact is, it is not like this! Let's first look at the complete statement made by Vice Minister Dong Jianguo of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development at the press conference held by the State Council Information Office on August 23 regarding the housing pension system. Vice Minister Dong Jianguo said: "Research and establish a housing inspection, housing pension, and housing insurance system to build a long-term mechanism for housing safety management throughout the entire lifecycle. Currently, 22 cities, including Shanghai, are conducting pilot programs. Specifically about the housing pension, individuals already have personal accounts through payment of special maintenance funds for residences. The focus of the pilot is for the government to establish a public account." In the above statement, Vice Minister Dong Jianguo mentioned at the end, "the focus of the pilot is for the government to establish a public account," which does not require any contribution from LBX Pharmacy Chain Joint Stock! Many self-media and video bloggers did not read or did not carefully read the complete statement, and concluded that the government wants to collect housing pensions. The complete statement already made it clear: "Individual accounts already exist through payment of special maintenance funds for residences." As many experts have pointed out, the sources of funds for the public account of the pension system mainly include: local governments can subsidize a bit through local finances, collect some from land transfer fees, funds from the sale of public housing, and other channels. Why study the housing pension system? This is actually very urgent, very necessary, and considered from the perspective of doing everything possible to safeguard the lives and property of the general public. With the advent of the era of existing housing, more and more houses are aging, with safety hazards that cannot be ignored. The collapse of the self-built building in Changsha on "429" in 2022, as well as various collapses of buildings in the past due to aging and lack of inspections, are extremely profound lessons and very sad. Therefore, in order to explore the establishment of a stable fund pool that can be used for safety inspections, management, maintenance and renovation subsidies for existing housing, to reduce the pressure of the increasing scale of existing housing and expenditures, as well as to alleviate residents' worries and let everyone live safely and securely, in recent years, government departments have repeatedly proposed to study and establish a housing inspection, housing pension, and housing insurance system. Not to mention, after the collapse of the self-built building in Changsha on "429" in 2022, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development expressed the intention to study and establish a housing pension system to better solve the problem of the source of maintenance funds for existing housing; in May 2022, the State Council Office issued a notice on "Implementation Plan for Special Rectification of Self-built Houses Nationwide," proposing to improve compulsory standards for housing quality safety, study the establishment of regular housing inspections, housing pensions, and housing quality insurance systems; during the National People's Congress sessions in 2023 and 2024, many national People's Congress representatives proposed to establish a housing pension system. Therefore, the housing pension system, which everyone is concerned about, is actually a fundamental system design for housing safety and life and property security, which has been proposed in previous notices issued by the State Council Office. Once we have understood this, it becomes clear when looking back at the exaggerated and misleading statements made by some self-media and video bloggers. Furthermore, housing pensions and property taxes are completely separate issues. The rumor that housing pensions are another form of property tax is purely a confusion, a forced association and a deliberate inducement to create misunderstandings among the public. Therefore, the lesson from the housing pension storm is: in the era of information explosion, no matter what we face, no matter what is trending, as ordinary people, we need to learn to think independently, not blindly follow trends, not believe in rumors, use a rational perspective to discern the truth of every piece of information and the right or wrong of every voice, look up more information, and think more about the logic behind it, in order to make our own correct judgments. In conclusion, if the housing inspection, housing pension, and housing insurance systems and other related supporting systems are truly established, it is very beneficial for both the lifespan of the house and the occupants, in safeguarding the quality, environment, safety, and value preservation of living, which is the original intention of this system design. This article was reposted from the WeChat public account "Construction Magazine," author: Xiao Zhenghua; GMTEight editor: Xu Wenqiang.