as can be seen from the chart, ownership of houses in beijing has significantly changed in the 1990s. in 1990, 75 percent of the houses were state-owned. five years later, the ratio of state-owned houses to private ones was 60 to 40. but from then on, the ownership changed dramatically and by the end of the century, 80 percent of houses were private.
there might have been two main reasons. one of the reasons was the policy of the government. in the 1990s, china carried on with its reform policy and the government called for privatization of the state-owned estate. but it took time for the reform to come into effect. but from 1995 on when people have recognized its significance, the reformation took bigger steps. another reason was that the people were getting better off and they could afford buying their own houses.
such changes have had great impact on individuals as well as the society. on one hand, the individuals must save money to buy an apartment or to pay the mortgage. on the other hand, a heavy burden has been taken off the government so that it can take more effective measures to improve people"s life.