China's property market showed signs of stabilizing in the first three quarters of this year, as the decline in key sector indicators has narrowed, suggesting that the measures implemented to boost the housing market are having an effect, said an official from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Friday.
At a press conference in Beijing, Sheng Laiyun, deputy head of the NBS, said that a raft of pro-property market policies are kicking in, as evidenced by narrowing declines in property development investment and in real estate sales.
The investment in property market in China fell 10.1 percent year on year in the first nine months of the year, with the decline narrowing from the January-August period.
From January to September, the decline in the sold floor space of new commodity housing narrowed by 1.9 percentage points compared to the first half of the year, marking four consecutive months of narrowing. Meanwhile, the decline in housing sales narrowed for five consecutive months.
According to Sheng, the confidence in the property market has strengthened and expectations have improved.
"Recently, we conducted a special survey among real estate development enterprises and agencies in 70 large and medium-sized cities across China. In September, the percentage of real estate agents selling new homes who expressed optimism about their business operations increased by 10 percent compared to the previous month, and those selling pre-owned homes up by 6.5 percent. This indicates a significant boost in confidence. So, we have reason to believe that the property market is poised for positive changes," said Sheng.
China has rolled out a slew of policies to bolster the real estate sector, including cutting minimum down payment ratios, abolishing the commercial mortgage rate floors for first and second homes, and establishing a re-lending facility that supports local state-owned enterprises in using such funds to purchase commodity homes for affordable housing.
China's property market shows signs of improvement in first three quarters: NBS official
China's Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao outlined the key priorities of the 32nd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Ministers Responsible for Trade Meeting, which opened on Friday in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu province.
In an interview with CGTN ahead of the two-day meeting, Wang said free trade, digital cooperation and green economy are high on the agenda of the meeting.
"The key areas include advancing regional economic integration and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific, supporting the World Trade Organization (WTO) in strengthening digital cooperation and developing green economy. At present, the international situation is marked by intertwined turbulence and chaos, with intensified geopolitical instability. The rise of unilateralism and protectionism poses serious challenges to the international economic and trade order, disrupting global and Asia-Pacific development. Against this backdrop, all parties have higher expectations for this trade ministers' meeting, hoping that it can build consensus and deliver outcomes," Wang said.
This year marks China's third time hosting the APEC meetings and the 35th anniversary of its membership.
By 2025, China had become the largest trading partner of 13 APEC economies. Trade between China and APEC economies reached 3.7 trillion U.S. dollars, accounting for 57.8 percent of China's total foreign trade.
China has signed 24 free trade agreements or economic and trade arrangements with 31 countries and regions, including 15 APEC economies. In recent years, China has also completed upgrades of free trade agreements with APEC economies such as Singapore and Peru.
The minister said that China has always been a firm supporter and an important contributor to APEC.
"We have actively shared our vast market and development opportunities with all parties. China's door to the world will only open wider and wider. Facing the common challenges, China will continue to fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, further deepen reform, expand high-standard opening-up, and continue to provide new opportunities for the Asia-Pacific region and the world with its new achievements in Chinese modernization," the minister said.
China's Commerce Minister outlines priorities for 32nd APEC trade ministers' meeting
