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China warns of housing price spikes in second quarter
Shanghai (AFP) April 23, 2008 China's top economic planning agency has warned that a range of economic factors were likely to push up domestic property prices in the second quarter. The National Development and Reform Commission said in a quarterly report on China's real estate sector released on Tuesday that upward pressure on housing prices was mounting again after a slight slowdown in the first three months. "Excessive liquidity and the appreciating yuan are driving asset prices including houses higher, while soaring costs of steel and labor are also pushing prices forward, especially in small and medium-sized cities," the report said. "Meanwhile, huge amounts of funding has fled equity markets after recent slumps... investors are likely to reinvest the money in property instead of bank deposits." The report stressed that the government must keep housing market prices stable, partly through increasing the amount of land available for residential development. Since 2005, China has taken a number of measures, including interest rate hikes and imposing taxes, to curb rapidly rising real estate prices amid concerns of a dangerous bubble in the sector. In the wake of those measures, soaring home prices did cool to a certain extent. Official data said earlier that property prices in 70 major cities across the country rose 10.7 percent year-on-year in March, down 0.2 percent from February. China has been struggling to rein in galloping inflation, which saw consumer prices soar 8.0 percent for the first quarter of the year, near a 12-year high. Related Links China News from SinoDaily.com
Tibet an 'international issue,' Japan PM tells China
Tokyo (AFP) April 18, 2008Japan's Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda bluntly told China Friday that Tibetan unrest had become an international issue, contradicting Beijing's official line, and hinted it could hit the Olympics. |
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