Guangdong province is planning to expand construction of co-owned dwellings and steadily introduce the system of housing with common property rights in major cities in the coming years.

The move aims to improve the province's housing conditions and attract more professionals, according to a guidance on the development of housing with common property rights.

Co-owned housing refers to homes that are developed or purchased by governments and sold to qualified residents at market prices.

Purchasers occupy the houses after they have paid part of the price, while sharing the property rights with the government.

Further, the government and the purchasers share the risks and interest.

Such homes can be purchased by qualified professionals from throughout Chinese mainland as well as the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, according to the guideline published on July 28.

Each family will only be allowed to buy one co-owned dwelling, with a maximum space of 120 square meters, it said.

Apartments of that size, usually containing three bedrooms, are suitable for a family, the guideline stipulates. The average Guangdong family has 3.25 people.

Buyers are required to pay at least 50 percent of the price in principle, and the co-owned home can be sold in five years, according to the guideline's stipulations.

Han Shitong, executive director of Guangdong Real Estate Research Association, said the co-owned housing system is a type of welfare program that would certainly benefit those who cannot afford to buy a commercial apartment by themselves.

He urged governments to introduce more specific rules and regulations to ensure and guide the healthy development of the co-owned housing system and build more small－and mid-sized co-owned apartments to benefit more residents.

"Co-owned housing will have little impact on the property market in the city, as the number of co-owned houses still represents a very small percentage in Guangzhou," he told China Daily.

According to the guideline, Guangdong selected five cities－the capital Guangzhou, as well as Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan and Maoming－to introduce the co-owned dwelling system as a pilot program in 2018.

By the end of June, the province, home to a large number of migrant workers from around the country, had constructed 61,000 co-owned houses, with more than 34,000 in use, the guideline said.

"The co-ownership housing policy has helped the province, which has a population of more than 115 million, to further improve housing conditions and attract talent," it said.

In addition, co-owned housing is playing a role in boosting the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and building a quality-of-life circle in the bay area that is suitable for living, business and tourism, it added.

The guideline was jointly issued by the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Guangdong Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, the Guangdong Bureau of Finance, the Guangdong Department of Natural Resources, the Guangzhou Branch of the People's Bank of China and the Guangdong Bureau of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Wang Yuexia contributed to this story.