China's property market stabilizes further as price declines ease, inventory falls

China's property market showed further signs of stabilization, as local authorities implemented city-specific measures to support the real estate market, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

While the property market experienced some fluctuations in the first half of the year, it has generally been moving toward stabilization, said Sheng Laiyun, deputy director of the NBS, at a press conference on Tuesday.

Sheng highlighted several positive trends, including improved market sales, narrowing price declines, improved funding channels for the sector, and a continued drop in unsold housing stock.

"In the first half of the year, sales of newly built commercial housing fell 3.5 percent by floor area, narrowing by 15.5 percentage points from a year earlier. The total sales value dropped 5.5 percent, with the rate of decline narrowing by an even wider margin of 19.5 percentage points. Property transactions remained relatively active, particularly in the second-hand market, where sales volume increased year on year," he said.

"The declines of new home prices in the first, second and third-tier cities narrowed by 0.3, 0.5 and 0.3 percentage points, respectively," Sheng continued.

Supported by the "white list" mechanism and improved sales, property firms made steady progress in debt reduction in the first half, Sheng added.

In the first half of the year, the decline in funds raised by developers narrowed by 16.4 percentage points year on year. Notably, domestic loans to developers rose 0.6 percent year on year, reversing a drop of around 6 percent last year.

Tuesday's data also showed that the total floor area of unsold commercial housing nationwide dropped by 4.79 million square meters at the end of June compared with the end of May, marking the fourth consecutive month of decline.

China's property market stabilizes further as price declines ease, inventory falls

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Wednesday that Seoul firmly adheres to the one-China principle, in comments made ahead of his upcoming state visit to China.

The remarks were made in an interview with China Media Group (CMG). The visit is scheduled for Jan 4–7.

"The consensus reached between governments of the Republic of Korea and China when diplomatic relations were established continues to be the fundamental principle governing our relations, and its effectiveness remains steadfast. I want to clearly state that the ROK has always adhered to the one-China principle. Maintaining peace and stability in regional matters, including in Northeast Asia and concerning the Taiwan issue, holds significant importance to us," said Lee.

"The foundational relationship between the ROK and China was established on a very principled and fundamental basis from the beginning. It is clear that the ROK government has always adhered to this position and has never wavered from it. I believe that the sound development of ROK-China relations depends on both sides fully respecting each other's core interests and being mutually tolerant of each other's positions. In this context, we will, as always, uphold the one-China principle as the Taiwan issue is China's most fundamental concern," he said.

ROK president reiterates firm adherence to one-China principle