China sees boom in housing market as new policies take effect

Benefiting from the recent real estate policy adjustments, the real estate market and related industries in many cities across China have been booming during the ongoing National Day holiday.

On Sept 30, Beijing announced to ease restrictions on home buying rules to boost its property market, including lowering the threshold on non-locals to buy a property in the downtown area.

In a real estate sales agency in Changping District, Beijing, the sales manager said that in recent days, all sales staff have become motivated due to the new policy. In the first two days of the holiday, the total sales volume of their project reached 200 million yuan (around 28.5 million U.S. dollars).

"After the policy was released at around 22:00 on Sept 30, three customers completed their payment in the early morning. Nearly 30 properties were sold in the past two days, which is close to our transaction level of the previous month," said Fei Teng, sales director of the agency.

At around 11:00, more customers came to the sales agency. Although there were more than 10 sales agents in the office, customers had to wait in line to be shown around the show houses. The time spent on talks with customers was also much longer than before.

"Because of the needs for home changes, this policy may have a certain stimulating effect on the housing market, which is also one of the reasons why I am preparing to buy a home now," said a resident in Beijing.

Throughout the day, a total of 56 groups of customers visited the sales office, and eight sales agreements were reached. It was not until after 20:00 that the last customer left the office.

According to the statistics from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, from Oct 1 to 3, the number of people being shown around new properties by real estate agents in Beijing increased by 92.5 percent compared with the same period last year, and the number of subscriptions increased by two times.

Impacted by the intensive issuance of real estate policies, real estate markets in many other places are also changing. Many cities are actively building various platforms, encouraging real estate developers to provide discounts and convenience for home buyers in selecting and purchasing homes.

Ahead of the National Day holiday, the China Real Estate Association issued an initiative to the entire industry, mobilizing thousands of real estate companies and brokerage agencies in over 100 cities to carry out various forms of commercial housing promotion activities in October in order to stimulate consumer enthusiasm and boost confidence in property purchases.

In Ganzhou, east China's Jiangxi Province, a local housing expo attracted the participation of 28 high-quality real estate projects and offered a variety of preferential benefits.

"I feel today's event is quite good and offers some real benefits," said a resident.

In Nanjing, the capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, sales offices of 152 newly built commercial housing projects launched various festival activities and public welfare benefits during the holiday, including low- and medium-priced commercial housing for new citizens and young people, as well as properties that meet the diverse needs of people with plans to improve their living conditions.

In Huizhou, south China's Guangdong Province, many local real estate projects have launched promotional activities, meting out special offers, special discounts, complements such as furniture and home appliances among other preferential measures.

China sees boom in housing market as new policies take effect

A delegation of 40 students and teachers from seven Chinese mainland universities on Thursday wrapped up their nine-day visit to Taiwan. They set off for Taiwan on Nov. 27 and visited universities, historical sites, scenic spots, as well as sports, sci-tech and cultural venues on the island, widely engaging with locals throughout the tour.

The delegation made the tour at the invitation of the Taiwan-based Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation.

"The young people from both sides of the Strait share the same root, and we are having a harmonious communication this time. We also welcome young people from Taiwan to visit the mainland for exchange," Cao Yibo, a student from Peking University, told reporters during the tour.

The delegation included table tennis Olympic champion Ma Long who studies at Beijing Sport University, and air rifle Olympic champion Yang Qian of Tsinghua University.

"In the future, I would like to visit Taiwan again. I did not expect that so many compatriots in Taiwan would come to welcome and us and pay so much attention to our exchange tour," Ma said.

Hsiao Hsu-tsen, executive director of the Ma Ying-jeou Culture and Education Foundation, saw off the delegation at the airport on Thursday, and said the mainland students and teachers had received Taiwan residents' heartfelt welcome wherever they went.

"The farewell dinner party was held yesterday evening, when almost all students from the mainland shared their feelings. What moved me so much is that every one of them thanked people here, because the latter sincerely and warmly welcomed them wherever they went during the nine-day tour. They told me that when they go back, they will tell their relatives and friends that people in Taiwan are kind, hospitable and warm. I believe that is the most important purpose of the exchange across the Strait," he said.

Calling youth exchanges a foundation of cross-Strait relations in the future, Hsiao said the foundation will carry on and continue to promote such exchanges across the Strait.

This is the second delegation of mainland teachers and students visiting Taiwan at the invitation of the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, following the visit by a first delegation in July last year.

Delegation of mainland university students, teachers wraps up Taiwan visit