Beijing's land transfer fees hit record high

The red-hot property market in 2013 pushed Beijing's land transfer fees to a record high of 182.18 billion yuan ($30 billion), 2.8 times that for 2012.

Fees for the whole year are roughly equivalent to the city's public fiscal revenue for the first half of 2013.

Land prices soared as real estate developers flocked into top-tier cities to compete in developing land, as they remained bullish on the prospect of first-tier cities and bearish on the growth potential of third and fourth-tier cities.

Shanghai's land sales topped the value stakes with 218.6 billion yuan for 2013, 126 percent higher than for 2012.

The combined value of land sales for four first-tier cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, hit 512.7 billion yuan, up 150 percent over the last year.