Major Chinese cities witness continued real estate market during May Day holiday

This year's May Day holiday saw a continued recovery in China's real estate markets, especially in first- and second-tier cities, boosted by a series of beneficial policies and a growing number of "quality homes" entering the market.

In Beijing, a newly developed property featuring three- and four-bedroom apartments, welcomes a surging number of homebuyers during the holiday, mostly seeking to improve their housing situation.

"During the May Day holiday, the footfall was around 400 to 500 people daily, and we were closing about 10 deals a day," said Wang Haifeng, who is responsible for the marketing and selling of the property.

In addition, with the implementation of the Residential Building Code recently, meeting "quality homes" standard has become a selling points for real estate developers around the country. This is a term mentioned for the first time in this year's Government Work Report, calling for safe, comfortable, eco-friendly, and smart housings.

"For example, all residential buildings must have a floor-to-ceiling height of at least three meters. The typical units must be designed with balconies, which allow for more usable space. Additionally, we are incorporating integrated central air conditioning, fresh air systems, and underfloor heating," said Wang.

In Shanghai, 20,700 second-hand homes were sold in April, a 32 percent increase year on year, marking the highest figure since 2022. Some properties, due to strong sales performance, chose to release additional units during the May Day holiday.

In the Huangpu District of Guangzhou City, south China's Guangdong Province, from May 1 to 2, all 47 properties under construction and on sale attracted over 2,000 batches of visitors, with the number of purchases increasing by 37 percent compared with last year. In neighboring Shenzhen City, the "May Day Quality Homes Festival" attracted 40,000 visitors on the first day of the event. The sales rate of a property site in Nanshan District reached 90 percent on the opening day.

In Wuhan City of central China's Hubei Province, a local store of a major second-hand real estate agency reported over 8,000 visitors in the first three days of the holiday, a 25 percent increase compared with the same period last year.

"Since April 30, our house showings and inquiries have doubled. On average, each of our staff took two to three groups of prospective homebuyers to houses on sale every day," said Wang Qi, a real estate agent from the agency.

In addition, city governments across China have been implementing beneficial policies to promote the real estate market.

In Hefei City of east China's Anhui Province, the city has upscaled support for the use of housing provident funds for purchasing government-subsidized housing and increased loan amounts.

In Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, loan limits have been relaxed for families with multiple children and for those purchasing improved housing.

Qingdao City of east China's Shandong Province has also introduced 12 new policies to stimulate the housing market, including subsidies for homebuyers, low monthly payment loan products, and a housing "trade-in" scheme.

"In key cities, both new and used home transaction volumes have seen year-on-year growth for two consecutive quarters. Although the growth rate in the first quarter of this year was slightly lower than that of last year's fourth quarter, the stabilizing trend in the property market is clear," said Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center.

Major Chinese cities witness continued real estate market during May Day holiday

Major Chinese cities witness continued real estate market during May Day holiday

The three astronauts of China's recently-returned Shenzhou-20 mission on Friday shared the experiences of their dramatic 204-day space mission, including detailing the emergency procedures which were implemented to bring them safely home after their return capsule was struck by space debris.

The trio -- Chen Dong, Chen Zhongrui, and Wang Jie -- met with the press in Beijing on Friday afternoon, marking their first public appearance since returning to Earth in November.

When detailing the emergency response mechanisms which were enacted prior to their scheduled return, the astronauts explained that upon discovering a triangular crack on the spacecraft's viewport window, they immediately took photos for documentation and transmitted them to the ground team, who swiftly activated an emergency plan to get the trio home safely.

Experienced mission commander Chen Dong explained how the crew had complete faith in their colleagues on the ground to find a solution to these unforeseen circumstances which led to their return being delayed.

"First, we must trust the ground team, who would anticipate everything and develop the safest return plan for us. Second, we must believe in ourselves; as well-trained astronauts, we have the ability to manage various unexpected failures. I believe that with the collaboration of astronauts and researchers on the ground, our space home will surely go farther, more steadily, and for a longer time," he said.

Following their extended stay in space as a result of the debris incident, the Shenzhou-20 crew spent a total 204 days in orbit, setting a new record for the longest duration by a single group of Chinese astronauts.

During their mission, they completed multiple payload operations, conducted extensive scientific experiments, and carried out four extravehicular activities.

"Our crew worked together with the ground team in unity and coordination, completing four extravehicular activities, several payload entry and exit tasks, and a large number of scientific experiments. It was a fulfilling yet challenging mission. The path to exploring the heavens is long and arduous, but I firmly believe that China's space missions will succeed," said Chen Zhongrui, a former air force pilot who was making his first spaceflight during the mission.

"From the ground to space, from learning to application, I have deeply felt the solid progress of Chinese space endeavors and the quiet dedication of countless personnel behind the scenes. In the future, I will accomplish each mission with full commitment, living up to the trust of the motherland and the people," said fellow astronaut Wang Jie, who was also making his debut spaceflight.

After returning to Earth on Nov 14, the trio successfully completed their isolation recovery and rehabilitation and will now resume normal training following health assessments.

The crew's return, originally scheduled for Nov 5, was postponed due to safety concerns, with the astronauts later using the return capsule belonging to their successor crew of the Shenzhou-21 mission to get back to Earth. China later launched the unmanned Shenzhou-22 spacecraft which will serve the future return of the crew now aboard the Tiangong Space Station.

Shenzhou-20 astronauts share experiences after safely returning from debris incident