China will win ‘tough battle’ to preserve property sector: housing minister

China’s housing ministry unveiled its plan to support the country’s property sector, with an expansion of funding to 4 trillion yuan

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Chinese Housing and Urban-Rural Development Minister Ni Hong leaves at the end of a press conference on the property sector in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Frank Chenin Shanghai,Sylvia Main Hong KongandJi Siqiin Beijing

Published: 10:00pm, 17 Oct 2024Updated: 9:28am, 18 Oct 2024

While China has declared its property sector has “bottomed out” and pledged more support for the beleaguered industry – including an expansion of funding to 4 trillion yuan (US$562.18 billion) – sentiment remains guarded despite recent glimmers of hope.

Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong played up the prospects of a full-spectrum recovery at a ministry press conference on Thursday, pointing to positive trends in home purchase data from this month.

“The market has bottomed out after three years of adjustment and the government will eventually win the tough battle to revive the sector,” Ni said, vowing a joint effort to implement a number of supportive policies.

The briefing was also attended by officials from the People’s Bank of China, Ministry of Finance and the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

Beijing will expand the loan pool for its financing “white list” – a set of pre-qualified projects and developers – from 2.23 trillion yuan to 4 trillion yuan by year’s end, Ni said, nearly doubling the previous allocation.

The minister also said the country’s urban redevelopment would cover 1 million homes, with room for more if circumstances demand. Residents in affected areas would be offered monetary compensation to cover their resettlement.