China is aiming to raise the standards for people's homes, with moves to increase the minimum residential floor height to three meters set to significantly improve housing comfort, according to experts. To meet people's demand for high-quality housing, China will improve the standards and regulations on building quality homes that are safe, comfortable, eco-friendly, and smart, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said delivering the government work report at the opening meeting of the third annual session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) in Beijing last Wednesday. At a press conference on people's livelihood, the Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong further elaborated on the measures that would be introduced, noting that storey height shall be raised to no less than three meters. China's current residential design standards have been in place for a number of years, with the 2011 residential design code recommending a storey height of 2.8 meters, though this was not a mandatory requirement. With modern housing demands evolving, factors such as underfloor heating, improved soundproofing, and better ventilation have created a need for taller ceilings. Experts believe that increasing the minimum storey height will help offset space taken up by these features and provide a more comfortable living environment for residents. Shotlist: Beijing, China - March 9, 2025: FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown 1. Various of sand table model of real estate project; 2. Various of residential buildings; FILE: Jiangsu Province, east China - Date Unknown 3. Various of real estate agent taking clients on property tour; interior of sample room; Beijing, China - March 9, 2025 4. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Liu Xiaozhong, chief architect, Beijing Institute of Architecture Design (partially overlaid with shot 5): "Floor heating, like what we have now, takes up some of the storey height. In addition, we are also targeting people's requirements for comfort, sound insulation, crack prevention and others. These measures all require increasing the height of the space. We can also offset this part of space occupied by increasing the storey height itself."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Chongqing Municipality, southwest China - Date Unknown 5. Various of interior of sample room; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] Beijing, China - March 9, 2025 6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Wu Jing, vice dean, School of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University (partially overlaid with shot 7): "With a higher height, for example, our windows will be larger, and both lighting and ventilation will get better, all of which help to significantly improve living comfort. Chinese people are now getting ever taller, and in the process of housing improvement, we not only hope that the housing area will be larger, but also that it will be higher."; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Beijing, China - Date Unknown 7. Various of real estate agent taking clients on property tour; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] FILE: Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China - Date Unknown 8. Various of interior of sample room. [Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]