CHINA will cut deed and business taxes for home purchases in most cities in an attempt to shore up the country's sagging property market, according to an official announcement yesterday.

From Monday, buyers in the four gateway cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen will be eligible for a 1 percent rate in the "deed tax" when they purchase a house no larger than 90 square meters, or a 1.5 percent rate if the home is larger, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance, the State Administration of Taxation and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

To qualify for the preferential rate, the house must be the only property owned by the household.