Rain lasting for two days in central China’s Hunan Province has left two people dead and 466,500 people suffering losses, while authorities on Friday closed all major tourist spots.

The rain damaged hundreds of houses in Hunan and 24,600 hectares of farmland were flooded. The two deaths occurred in Yongshun County, where a house collapsed on Friday burying two children, aged 7 and 5, according to the provincial civil affairs department.

The rain disrupted traffic in several towns. The civil affairs department is still investigating casualties and losses, while aid to the affected areas.

The Hunan provincial tourist commission closed more than 10 destinations, including Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and Fenghuang river town. The commission warned tourists against traveling, camping or picnicking near rivers or on hillsides.

The local weather observatory forecast that the rain would become heavier on Saturday, and last till Wednesday.

In east China’s Jiangxi Province, the provincial weather observatory on Saturday issued a red alert for rain, the highest level in the four-tier weather alert system. Heavy rain since Tuesday has forced the evacuation of 14,000 people to safer places.

Many more people want to own their own home than currently do so. Generation Rent tells us they want more opportunity to buy, but feel crowded out of the market by high prices and scarcity of homes.

I agree with the majority view that home ownership is usually the best answer for people.  It is good to have control of our property, so you can decide how to decorate it, how to arrange the internal space, and how to organise the services. Above all home ownership is a good lifestyle choice as you get older. Once the mortgage is repaid it is much cheaper living in a home you own than living in rented accommodation. Those who rent all their lives end up paying most for their property once retired, on a lower income than they had when working.  If you pay rent for 60 years rather than a mortgage for 25 years, you pay so much more. If you rent a property for £1000 a month that would be £720,000 over a lifetime, but of course it will be so much more as the rent is likely  go up a lot over the next 70 years. If you buy  the home instead for  £250,000 home on a mortgage you might end up paying £400,000 of interest and capital repayments over your lifetime.

None of these numbers requires house prices to go, though in the past they have done so. If they do then of course the home owner is better off again. In old age they can sell the property and move to a smaller place, releasing capital to spend if they wish. The person living in their own home also can pass it on to their heirs  or to a charity of their choice , whilst the person in rented accommodation just leaves the termination costs of the tenancy to their estate.

Many Conservative MPs and advisers think there is an urgent issue of how we can help more people to own. We want to empower a new generation of home owners. The last government put in place schemes to help purchasers. There is the Help to buy scheme to assist with raising the money for the deposit. There are various affordable homes for sale projects. The question is what more needs to be done.

Reducing the numbers of new migrants arriving and needing homes would help. This is something the government can do with its new border control scheme for when we leave the EU. Increasing the supply of new homes would help, which the government is working on.  Looking at ways to help finance homes and to make them more affordable is moving to the top of the agenda.

There can be more sales of public sector owned homes at a discount to tenants. There could be a rent to mortgages scheme, where good public sector tenants get credit for regular rent payments and build a stake in their home. There can be more shared ownership schemes, with easy ways of a person buying a   bigger share as they can afford it.

We need to make the case again for ownership. Doubtless we will be told that selling existing public sector homes reduces the supply and adds to the problem. This is the most absurd criticism of them all. If a tenant buys the home they are living in the supply of homes is totally unaffected, as the same family are living  in the same home after the transaction. The advantage is twofold. That family have something they want , and the state has money from the sale that it can spend  on building an additional home, thereby expanding the supply of property.

Yours thoughts on what we could do would be appreciated. I will return to this topic with more specific proposals in due course.

The Chinese mainland and Hong Kong have benefited each other and have grown together since Hong Kong’s return to the motherland 20 years ago, K. Wah Group Chairman Lui Che-woo told Xinhua recently.

“The central government’s policy towards Hong Kong has supported Hong Kong’s development, while Hong Kong on the other hand has helped the mainland to open up further to the world,” said the 88-year-old tycoon, wearing his trademark flap cap.

Lui believes that Hong Kong has maintained its core value over the past 20 years. “You can see that it is more prosperous nowadays.”

Prior to 1997, some foreign and local companies moved their businesses away from Hong Kong for fear of uncertain future. K. Wah Group went the other way around.

“I think the return to the motherland presents lots of opportunities for Hong Kong,” he said, “With the mainland behind our back, Hong Kong’s future will be bright. So we concentrated our business in Hong Kong at that time.”

Founded in 1955 and starting from quarrying industry, K. Wah Group has expanded rapidly during the past two decades, becoming a conglomerate of construction materials, properties, hospitality and entertainment and leisure resorts, with total assets value mounting to hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars.

Lui said Hong Kong has made huge progress in finance, trading, tourism and transportation after 1997, together with sound legal system, helping elevate Hong Kong’s international status significantly.

“Hong Kong is right behind New York and London now, but without the support from the mainland, Hong Kong would not be so strong,” Lui chuckled. “Hong Kong people should be grateful to all the benefits.”

He said the successful implementation of the “one country, two systems” principle in Hong Kong has ensured its prosperity and stability.

“The principle is the smartest way to balance two different political and economic systems, enabling Hong Kong and the mainland to adapt and cooperate with each other. The achievement is well recognized,” Lui said.

As one of the earliest Hong Kong companies to enter the mainland market in the 1980s, K. Wah Group has now become a major construction material supplier in the northern, eastern and southern China.

The company also seized the opportunities to transform itself into a fully integrated environmentally-friendly enterprise, in line with China’s national policy of sustainable development.

“So far our eco-product business in the Chinese mainland is good, sometimes in short supply,” Lui said.

With over five decades of quarrying experience, K. Wah Group also strives to share a piece of cake from the Belt and Road Initiative, as many infrastructure projects are planned along the revived ancient trade routes.

“I wish there would be more opportunities for us, and hopefully our business in countries along the Belt and Road will exceed that in Hong Kong,” Lui said.

He also spoke highly of southern China’s Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. “The concept is quite attractive,” Lui said, adding Hong Kong will become an important hub of trading, tourism and industry as all the places within the bay area will be linked more closely in the future.

“K. Wah Group has confidence in investing the bay area, and there are some projects under negotiation currently,” said Lui, with a high expectation that the central government will grant more incentives to Hong Kong businessmen.

He is upbeat about China’s future development. “The mainland is leading ahead in many fields, such as technology, and Hong Kong is also catching up. I believe the country will continue moving forward.”

Giant pandas Meng Meng and Jiao Qing will take a chartered flight from Chengdu Saturday to settle in their new home in Berlin Zoo, Germany, on a 15-year research mission.

The furry ambassadors will be accompanied by two Chinese keepers, Berlin Zoo’s senior vet, 1,000 kilograms of bamboo and a large number of biscuits.

Meng Meng, a female, is four years old, and loves being on camera and sleeping, while Jiao Qing is a seven-year-old male, who is very active and loves physical activity.

They were both born at Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. Berlin Zoo has been preparing for their arrival since October.

“We have built new enclosures in an area of 5,500 square meters, neighboring the oldest enclosures, built for antelopes and giraffes in 1871,” said Andreas Ochs, a senior veterinarian at the zoo.

Berlin weather is more agreeable than in Chengdu, so the pandas can stay outside for the whole year, according to Ochs.

The zoo has planned a 1,000 square-meter outside enclosure for each panda and a 250 square-meter inside area, as well as room for treatment, storing bamboo and quarantine.

To better host the bears, the zoo has sent a team to China to learn specific skills to care for them.

“We have learned to design enclosures for keeping the bears and how to go into the cage and remove the baby bear for nursing and to return it to the mother again once the couple give birth,” Ochs said.

China has gifted three pandas to Germany since the early 1980s. Bao Bao and Tian Tian were the first panda couple in Berlin Zoo, though Tian Tian died in 1982.

Bao Bao remained alone until Yan Yan was loaned to the zoo in 1995 to breed. However, breeding attempts were unsuccessful despite trying artificial insemination seven times.

Thirty-four-year-old Bao Bao died in Berlin in 2012, as the oldest male panda in the world.

“Jiao Qing is grown-up now and Meng Meng will be ready to mate in two years. We expect to see their baby born in Berlin,” said Yin Hong, Meng Meng’s keeper in Chengdu.

China Wildlife Conservation Association and Berlin Zoo signed a 15-year contract in April. The research team at Chengdu Base singled the panda pair out based on their health, age and hereditary genes, said Yin.

This year marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Germany.

“They are envoys for China-Germany friendship. All the people in Berlin are looking forward to seeing this pair of pandas soon,” Ochs said.