Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality is awaiting approval by the State Council to levy a residential property tax, Chongqing-based news portal cqnews.net reported Wednesday, quoting a local official.

Chongqing is well prepared to levy a property tax, Liu Wei, chief of the local financial bureau, told cqnews.net. Liu did not reveal details of the plan, but said it would be published immediately after its approval.

Wang Yinchuan, deputy director of the general office of the local financial bureau, confirmed the news to the Global Times.

The State Council, China's cabinet, on Monday announced a gradual reform of the property tax.

It is hoped that the tax will rein in the country's soaring property market. The tax will be levied on owners of multiple homes, and will not include the use of land. Taxes on real estate and land are divided in China.

Earlier reports said cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province are likely to pilot the launch of a residential property tax.

Shanghai's plan for a property tax has been submitted to the central government, the official China Securities Journal reported Monday.

Cities in Central China's Hunan and Hubei provinces are under consideration to be picked as pilot areas for collecting a comprehensive property tax, which would combine some existing taxes on real estate and land, the China Securities Journal reported Tuesday.

Three cities including Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan in Hunan Province have already submitted plans for a comprehensive property tax to the cabinet, the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald newspaper, based in Hunan Province, also reported Wednesday. The tax would initially be levied on commercial property, before being expanded to residential property.