Plenty of people in China treat housing as an investment. There is an over-supply of investment and development, leading to an abundance of units and affordable

Plenty of people in China treat housing as an investment. There is an over-supply of investment and development, leading to an abundance of units and affordable rental rates. Preventing people from profiting by supplying the market (aka treating the good in question as an investment) leads to shortages and high prices, as the history of rent control amply demonstrates. Anecdotally, San Francisco has had some of the most stringent rent control laws in the US over the last 50 years and today has the highest rental rates in the world.