BEIJING - China will next year introduce a regulation to better manage the housing files of the country in terms of resources and applicants, according to an official announcement on Tuesday.

The announcement, posted on the website of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, said local governments at prefecture and county levels should make low-income housing information retrievable.

Meanwhile, the private information of individuals and enterprises should be protected, it added.

The regulation will be implemented on Jan 1, 2013.