China's property market shows signs of improvement in first three quarters: NBS official

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

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham formed a new cabinet on Monday, appointing former Defense Secretary John Healey as Chancellor of the Exchequer, according to a statement from the his office.

Healey had resigned as defense secretary following disagreements over the previous government's defense spending plans. British media described his appointment as chancellor as unexpected.

Ed Miliband was appointed foreign secretary, while Shabana Mahmood remained home secretary. Louise Haigh was named first secretary of state, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and minister for the Cabinet Office. Yvette Cooper was appointed health secretary, while Pat McFadden remained as work and pensions secretary.

In his inaugural speech outside 10 Downing Street earlier on Monday, Burnham pledged to deliver "the biggest changes in the last 40 years" and introduce "a new political model and a new economic model."

After Keir Starmer resigned as British prime minister on the same day, Burnham, the new leader of the ruling Labor Party, accepted King Charles III's invitation at Buckingham Palace to form a government and officially became the British prime minister.

British new PM Burnham forms new cabinet