A young Hungarian college student who presented flowers to Chinese President Xi Jinping upon his arrival in Budapest on Wednesday has expressed her excitement at seeing the Chinese leader again as she also gifted him flowers during a visit in his role as vice president 15 years ago.
Xi, who is currently on a historic first state visit to Hungary as president, landed in Budapest late on Wednesday where he was greeted by the same Hungarian girl who had also met him back in 2009.
Now a university student who has adopted the Chinese name of Tong Man, Olah Tamara was just six years old when she first presented flowers to the then vice president Xi during his visit in October 2009.
On Wednesday, she reprised this role at the Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest as she welcomed the now President Xi to the Central European country with flowers as he disembarked from his plane.
"I am very happy that we will meet again. Welcome to Hungary," she said before Xi arrived.
Hungary is the last stop of Xi's three-nation European tour from May 5 to 10, which has seen the Chinese president pay state visits to France and Serbia.
Young Hungarian student enjoys reunion with President Xi after 15 years
Young Hungarian student enjoys reunion with President Xi after 15 years
China's new package of policies including cutting mortgage rates and reducing down-payment ratio to an unprecedented low shows the government's determination to prop up the housing market, experts told CGTN on Monday.
China on Friday announced a slew of measures to boost the property market: reducing the loan rates of the individual housing provident fund by 0.25 percentage points, lowering the minimum down payment ratios for individuals' commercial housing mortgages to 15 percent for first-home purchases and 25 percent for second-home purchases, and scrapping the floor level of commercial mortgage rates for first and second homes.
Additionally, top policy makers have urged state-owned enterprises to purchase existing homes and land from debt-burdened developers, and renovate them to create affordable housing. And the central bank is launching a 300-billion-yuan or about 41.5 billion U.S. dollar re-lending facility to help finance those renovation projects.
Experts said these steps are expected to be a boost to the property market by helping developers navigate the liquidity crunch and encouraging more people to buy starter homes or replace their old apartments with new ones.
"From the supply side, the Chinese government will successfully inject liquidity into the property developers, by letting state-owned entities purchase existing homes and land. On the demand side, a lower down payment ratio plus lower mortgage rates can stimulate buying among residents who need a starter home or an upgrade," said Tang Zhehui, managing partner of Ernst and Young (EY) Greater China's Real Estate Sector.
Chinese authorities have been stepping up financial support for the property sector, as the minimum down-payment ratios are down to the lowest in history. Analysts believe the latest policies are sending a positive signal.
"I think they are quite positive. The down payment ratio for first-time buyers is cut to a historic low of 15 percent. That really demonstrates the government's determination to support the property market," said John Lam, real-estate analyst at UBS Greater China.
As evidence of the government's increased financial efforts to support the property sector, commercial banks across the country issued a total of 963.6 billion yuan in real estate development loans and 1.3 trillion yuan in individual housing loans in the first quarter of the year, both showing significant increases compared with the fourth quarter of last year, according to Xiao Yuanqi, deputy head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration.
Housing is at the base of people's livelihoods and the root of many people's life. At a teleconference focusing on ensuring the delivery of housing projects on Friday, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng urged further efforts to push forward the construction of government-subsidized housing, dual-use public infrastructure that can accommodate emergency needs, and the redevelopment of urban villages.
Local governments of regions where there are relatively large commercial housing stocks are allowed to buy some homes at reasonable prices and provide them as affordable housing, according to He.
'Historic' steps show Chinese government resolved to bolster housing market: experts
