A total of 3.24 million housing units had been successfully delivered across China by the end of November, further boosting homebuyers' confidence and improving market expectations, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Dong Jianguo said on Saturday.
This year, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, together with the National Financial Regulatory Administration, established a coordination mechanism for real estate financing.
This initiative aimed to ensure that compliant real estate projects receive necessary funding, with approved loans disbursed promptly.
As of the end of November, the amount of loans approved for projects on the "white list" had reached 3.6 trillion yuan (about 494.64 billion U.S. dollars).
Speaking at the Annual Conference on China's Economy hosted by the China Center for International Economic Exchanges (CCIEE), a public policy think tank based in Beijing, Dong said these measures have reversed the downward trend of the real estate sector.
"A series of policies and measures have effectively boosted confidence in the property market, leading to a positive momentum with signs of stabilization. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development's real estate market monitoring system, in October and November, the nationwide transaction area of newly built commercial housing achieved consecutive month-on-month and year-on-year growth, with first-tier cities driving sales growth in second- and third-tier cities," said Dong.
Dong emphasized that the positive changes in the housing market since the beginning of the fourth quarter demonstrate the effectiveness of the host of incremental policies that have been taken.
Looking ahead, Dong said the ministry will align its efforts with the directives of the recently concluded annual Central Economic Work Conference to further stabilize and improve the real estate market.
"On the one hand, we will prioritize stimulating demand by implementing city-specific policies, advancing the renovation of urban villages and deteriorating urban housing, and fully tapping into the potential of both rigid and improved housing needs. On the other hand, we will focus on controlling new developments, optimizing existing housing stock, and enhancing quality. Additional efforts will include responsibly managing new land supply, promoting urban renewal, and supporting real estate enterprises in revitalizing existing land and property assets to accelerate their transformation to sustainable development," said Dong.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday, with Chinese leaders deciding priorities for economic work in 2025.
China delivers 3.24 mln housing units to buyers by Nov: vice minister
Multiple areas in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have experienced a heavy snowfall, strong winds and a sharp temperature drop since Wednesday as a cold front swept through the region.
Xinjiang's northern part bore the brunt of the initial impact, with Urumqi City, the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture and Tacheng City recording significant precipitation, ranging from heavy snow to blizzard conditions.
The regional capital, Urumqi, was hit by intense snowfall accompanied by strong winds on Wednesday, prompting multiple urban districts to issue a yellow alert for blizzards. By 21:00 on Wednesday, the cumulative precipitation in most urban areas had already reached blizzard levels.
China has a four-tier weather warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
In response, the city's sanitation department deployed a fleet of snowplows that worked in shifts to conduct continuous clearing operations on urban trunk roads and main thoroughfares to keep traffic moving.
The Turpan to Hami section of the G30 Expressway, which links Lianyungang in eastern China with Horgos on the China-Kazakhstan border experienced gale-force winds starting Wednesday morning.
Known as a "100-Li (about 50-kilometer) wind zone," the section frequently experience strong winds due to its distinctive geographic location. As the maximum gusts on this section can reach level 13 (37.0 to 41.4 meters per second) or higher, vehicles have been trapped in the Yiwanquan service area since 19:00 on Wednesday.
Because of the strong winds, local authorities implemented traffic control on the Xingxingxia to Hami section for vehicles entering Xinjiang, starting 20:00 on Wednesday. The ensuing traffic jam stretched for approximately 10 kilometers on the expressway.
As vehicles were held back, the Yiwanquan service area became a temporary shelter, housing around 300 vehicles and more than 400 stranded individuals.
Local police officers were called to manage the situation, using patrol cars to guide vehicles to safe zones like nearby service areas and parking lots. They also distributed essential supplies such as instant noodles and bottled water to the stranded travelers.
The severe weather conditions in this area are expected to continue until Thursday night.
The treacherous weather led to dangerous road conditions in another major route in Hejing County in the Bayinglin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture. Starting Wednesday morning, the Tianshan Mountain area section of the national highway 218 was hit by blowing snow, a phenomenon where strong winds lift existing snow and reduce visibility.
Visibility in some road sections fell to less than 50 meters, trapping eight vehicles. The traffic police of Hejing County responded swiftly, launching a rescue operation that lasted more than two hours. All 27 individuals stranded in the vehicles were successfully evacuated to safe locations.
The blowing snow conditions are predicted to continue until Thursday afternoon, and the affected section remains under traffic control.
Strong winds, blowing snow hit northern part of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region
