Home Comfort: China’s New Building Code Puts Livability First

The revised national standard for residential projects aims to boost quality and market growth, but could pile more pressure on developers.Decades ago, the biggest concern for a homebuyer in China was the price of the property, and whether they could truly afford it. Today, the focus has shifted to quality.

Yet, in the country’s fast-growing urban neighborhoods, residents in apartment blocks have long had to endure myriad frustrations, such as cooking smells wafting in via poor ventilation, constant noise due to a lack of sound insulation, and dangerously low balcony railings.

That could all be about to change.

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