Two government researchers said in a commentary in the People's Daily on Wednesday that while Beijing is resolved to continue intervening in the property market, that won't necessarily result in a hard landing in the sector, and warned about the exaggeration of such risks.

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For the moment, the researchers have got what they want, but the government has said that the amendment is a temporary measure, and will be reviewed annually to take account of progress in electronic record-keeping, anonymisation and encryption of data which might eliminate the need for identifiable information.

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"So there needs to be partnership between the government, the universities and the individual researchers plus the business and commercial world, " said Mr Dalling.

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