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

The death toll from Sunday's collision between two trains in Egypt's Giza governorate has risen to seven, with 112 others injured, Egypt's Ministry of Health and Population said.

The ministry said in a statement that 45 patients had been discharged after their conditions improved and they received the necessary treatment, while seven others were expected to be discharged soon. The remaining injured were continuing to receive treatment under medical observation.

The Chinese embassy in Egypt said no Chinese casualties have been reported so far.

Earlier in the day, the ministry said in another statement that 72 ambulances took part in rescue and evacuation operations, with the injured transferred to multiple hospitals in Giza and nearby Beni Suef governorate.

Health Minister Khaled Abdel Ghaffar ordered health facilities in both governorates to raise readiness and provide all necessary medical and emergency support to the injured, according to the statement.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said in a social media post that he was closely following developments, extended his condolences to the families of those killed and wished the injured a speedy recovery.

Sisi said he had directed state agencies to provide medical care, swiftly investigate the accident, and hold anyone found responsible for negligence accountable.

The Egyptian National Railways Authority said in an earlier statement that the accident occurred between Kafr Ammar and Al-Raqqa stations when a train on the Giza-Fayoum route hit the rear of another on the Cairo-Aswan route.

Emergency teams and cranes were dispatched to clear the site and move the remaining carriages to restore services in both directions as quickly as possible, the authority said.

Egypt's railway network has long faced problems of outdated equipment and poor management, leading to frequent accidents. The country's deadliest rail disaster occurred in 2002, when a fire on a Cairo-Luxor train in Giza's Ayyat district killed over 380 people.

Death toll from Egypt's train collision rises to 7, with 112 injured