Erdos will not build new commercial residential housing in three years, said Lian Su, mayor of Erdos, during a group discussion among delegates from the Inner Mongolia autonomous region on Friday at the annual session of the 12th National People's Congress.

Lian told the media there are still 40,000 unsold apartments in Erdos, which has been dubbed the "empty city" for its high housing vacancy rate.

To fill up the empty apartments, Erdos plans to attract buyers by cutting prices and promoting group purchases to new enterprises, said Lian.

It is estimated that all the empty apartments could be bought or leased in three to five years.

The real-estate bubble in Erdos burst in 2010 when the Chinese government launched a series of policies to curb the commercial housing market.