Nationwide Mass Appraisal Modeling in China: Feasibility Analysis for Scalability Given Ad Valorem Property Tax Reform

Since 2003, the Chinese government has considered introducing an annual property tax, and while it selected six pilot cities for experimenting with the viability of a mass appraisal system rollout, has not adopted this as policy. When piloting the viability of property taxes, the Shenzhen Center for Assessment and Development of Real Estate was founded to commence citywide valuation, an initiative which coincided with the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy’s foray into China in 2003 to provide expertise pertaining to topics ranging from property tax and municipal finance to public land management and land expropriation (Nunlist 2017). This paper assesses the feasibility of creating computer assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) and automated valuation models (AVMs) in China and their respective capability of conforming to IAAO valuation standards, with implications for scalability across national markets.