Market-oriented regulations differentiating between affordable and commercial homes are likely to dominate realistic policies

Chinese people have become accustomed to their premier mentioning "real estate regulations" in the Government Work Report delivered to the annual session of the National People's Congress, given that "housing regulations", "to curb the rise of housing prices" and other such phrases were buzzwords at previous NPC sessions.

However, in his report delivered to this year's session of the top legislature on Wednesday, Premier Li Keqiang eschewed such familiar phrases and the usual vow to make efforts to check "the fast rising momentum of housing prices". In fact, the previously common harsh words targeted at cooling house prices have hardly been heard since Li took office in March 2013.