China posts narrowed declines of housing prices in May

The decline in housing prices slowed in 70 large and medium-sized Chinese cities in May, even as a slight downward trend continued, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported Monday.

In May, the new commercial housing sales in first-tier cities slipped 0.2 percent compared to the previous month. Among them, Shanghai saw an increase of 0.7 percent, while Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen experienced declines of 0.4 percent, 0.8 percent, and 0.4 percent, respectively, the NBS said.

Second-tier and third-tier cities saw the prices of new homes edge down 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent on a monthly basis, respectively.

In addition, sales prices for second-hand residential properties in first-tier cities decreased by 0.7 percent month-on-month, with the decline widening by 0.5 percentage points compared to the previous month.

Among them, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen saw decreases of 0.8 percent, 0.7 percent, 0.8 percent, and 0.5 percent, respectively. In second and third-tier cities, prices of second-hand homes also fell by 0.5 percent, with the decline widening by 0.1 percentage points.

NBS data shows that in May, new home prices in first-tier cities slipped 1.7 percent from a year ago, with the decline narrowing by 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous month. Among them, Shanghai saw an increase of 5.9 percent, while Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen experienced decreases of 4.3 percent, 5.8 percent, and 2.6 percent, respectively.

Home prices in second and third-tier cities decreased by 3.5 percent and 4.9 percent year-on-year, with the declines narrowing by 0.4 and 0.5 percentage points, respectively.

In the same month, the sales price of second-hand homes in first-tier cities witnessed a 2.7 percent decline year on year, which narrowed by 0.5 percentage points compared to that of the previous month. Notably, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen experienced sales price drops of 0.7 percent, 0.1 percent, 6.6 percent, and 3.2 percent respectively.

In second- and third-tier cities, the sales prices of second-hand homes declined by 6.1 percent and 6.9 percent year on year respectively, 0.4 and 0.5 percentage points lower than in the previous month.

China posts narrowed declines of housing prices in May

China posts narrowed declines of housing prices in May

China posts narrowed declines of housing prices in May

China posts narrowed declines of housing prices in May

China aims to achieve secure and reliable supply of key core artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2027, with its industrial scale and empowerment level remaining among the world's forefront, according to a recent government action plan.

The plan, jointly issued by eight departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the National Development and Reform Commission, outlines an ambitious push to deeply integrate AI with the manufacturing sector, foster new quality productive forces and comprehensively empower new industrialization. By 2027, the plan targets the deep application of three to five general-purpose large AI models in manufacturing, the development of specialized, full-coverage industry-specific large models, the creation of 100 high-quality industrial datasets, and the promotion of 500 typical application scenarios.

It also aims to cultivate two to three globally influential ecosystem-leading enterprises, a batch of specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises, and a group of enabling service providers proficient in both AI technology and industry know-how.

Furthermore, China plans to build a world-leading open-source ecosystem, enhance security governance capabilities, and contribute Chinese solutions to global AI development.

The document outlines measures including promoting the coordinated development of AI chips' hardware and software, supporting innovations in model training and inference methods, fostering key industry-specific large models, and deeply embedding large model technology into core production processes.

The plan also emphasizes making breakthroughs in key technologies such as security protection for industrial model algorithms and training data protection.

China aims for secure, reliable supply of AI core tech by 2027