(Yicai Global) March 23 -- A rental housing platform in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province, has attracted more than 20,000 listings since its introduction late last year. Hefei is one of China's first batch of 12 pilot cities for major new rental housing projects.

More than 40 rental housing companies have registered on the platform, and 10 of them have collected over 1,000 listings each, state-run Xinhua News Agency reported, citing officials at a project promotion event in the city.

The municipal government is working on various financial incentives to allow more social housing to list on the platform, the officials said, adding enterprises and homeowners who complete leasing transactions on the platform will be offered some subsidies. The specific amount of subsidy is still under study, said an official from the Hefei real estate administration.

Hefei will also actively promote the supply of residential land for rental housing projects. The city completed the first auction of a land for this purpose, which was won by Anhui Medical University. The land covers an area of 68.79 mu (45,860 square meters). The city will also auction seven more land areas for rental housing projects.

China's ministry of housing and urban-rural development selected 12 pilot cities for rental housing projects last July. They are Hefei, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Wuhan, Chengdu, Shenyang, Zhengzhou, Foshan and Zhaoqing.