China's Li vows more support for property market stuck in the doldrums

5/3/2024 13:54

        China will try to stabilise a property sector with targeted measures while providing financing to "justified" projects, Premier Li Qiang said on Tuesday, as Beijing looks to resolve a glut of unfinished properties that have worried homebuyers.
        
        The policy message in Li's annual report to China's parliament reinforced the view that the world's second-largest economy is still working through a combination of half-completed projects as well as unsold homes that will take years to remedy and remain a brake on economic growth.
        
        The property sector has lurched from one crisis to another since 2021 after a regulatory crackdown on high leverage among developers triggered a liquidity crisis. So far, authorities have not rolled out massive stimulus to support developers, instead adopting a long series of incremental steps to revive the sector.
        The government will "meet justified financing demands of real estate enterprises under various forms of ownership on an equal basis, so as to promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market," said Li.