Tracts of land bought at extremely high prices through a formal bidding process. Housing prices are largely determined by land prices, hence public concern that such massive purchases making housing unaffordable. Central agencies issued a partial ban on central SOE land kings in 2010, allowing only 21 land-related SOEs to buy land. But unrelated SOEs, fuelled by easy bank credit, continue to do so. 2016 has already been nicknamed the 'year of the land kings': in May alone, 69 were ‘crowned’ in land auctions, many by SOEs, further stoking booming housing markets in tier 1 and 2 cities.