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Competition in business, we know, leads to combination. But it can lead to cooperation, too, as a China experience shows. The cooperation, however, is not to make money, rather it's to fulfill a basic need by paying the least.

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Property prices have soared across the country, more so in big cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, in the past few years. That has made it increasingly difficult for many to buy a house of their choice within their means. But it's also given birth to a new concept: collective home building.

So when developers were showcasing their latest residential projects at the annual Beijing Real Estate Fair late last month, Yu Linggang, a 30-something Beijing resident, was speaking to hundreds of potential home buyers about how to build their own house. Collective house building, Yu said, means pooling in money and developing a residential building together. It gives all the partners the chance to choose a plot, decide on a design and build a home.

But the greatest advantage of collective house building is having a home by paying much below the market price. How? By not having to pay the extra amount that developers charge to make a profit. Also, members of a collective group can enjoy the proceeds if part of their building is leased out to commercial enterprises.

Lin Liren, a Shenzhen resident who led a group of 80 people on a two-year-long mission to buy cheap apartments, stands in front of two buildings purchased at a surprising low price of about 1,500 yuan per square meter in Bao'an, Shenzhen on March 26. Lin's group is the first of its kind that has successfully purchased cheap housing through a collective effort. [China Foto Press]

Forming a cooperative group is simple, Yu said. "You just open an account with a specified bank and deposit the money for your project." Yu was the first man in Beijing, and probably the entire country, to apply this concept. He is now considering developing three projects in Beijing, for which he has more than 800 candidates.

"The collective home concept building has spread to more than 30 cities in China and attracted hundreds of thousands of home buyers since 2004, when Yu came up with his idea," said Beijing-based lawyer Meng Xiansheng, who once help Yu with the legalities of collective house building.

The strongest point of Yu's concept is no doubt the lower price it guarantees. "This way we can collectively avoid paying the exorbitant profit charged by the developers," he said.

Many people at the fair were interested in Yu's idea, and chased him for answers to all their questions after he finished his speech. Their main concern seemed to be: how to ensure the safety of the money they would deposit and which plots was Yu considering buying.

Yu came up with the collective home idea when property prices had just started rising sharply. "House prices have risen very fast and made it more difficult for a common man to own a home in Beijing," said one of the potential buyers at the fair. "I will try this new way if the prices are lower."

Many among the audience at the fair were seen jotting down Yu's contact numbers in the hope of knowing more about his non-profit-making Lancheng Company, which was founded especially to sell the idea and, of course, the houses.

"By forming a joint force, people fight the hold of big developers over property and exercise their right to own a house at a reasonable price," Meng said.

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