Property market

While the Chinese government has implemented cooling measures including reminding people that property is “not for speculation”, it seems that people are not taking it seriously and still believe that property is a guaranteed investment. Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing takes the temperature of the Chinese property market.

Since the early 2000s, there has been an influx of Chinese nationals, investment, and development assistance as part of China’s projection of its soft power in Cambodia, most prominently in Sihanoukville. All this has led to resentment among Cambodians, amid China's seeming efforts to turn Sihanoukville into Cambodia's Shenzhen.

China has a problem of wastage, and two areas where this is clearly seen are food and property development. Hong Kong commentator David Ng reviews the impact on China’s economy.

Offshore duty-free policy, lower rentals and proximity to mainland China — will the development of Hainan free trade port impact Hong Kong’s functions and status? Zaobao correspondent Meng Dandan seeks experts’ views for a clearer picture.

With salary cuts, housing loans on their backs and little means of generating cash flow, middle-class workers across China’s cities are walking the tightrope of trying to maintain their living standards while keeping up with their mortgage payments. The recently-announced stimulus plan may not solve their housing woes either.

Professor Zheng Yongnian recognises that the economic impact of the coronavirus will be deep. Beyond thinking about whether short-term cash payouts should be given, he mulls over measures that can see China through protracted headwinds. Key is the political will needed to move the country’s strategies away from GDPism, or an obsession with GDP, to those of building social safeguards as the country strives to build a sustainable economy.

Cai Enze analyses the anticipated gains of American private equity investment company Blackstone taking Chinese property developer SOHO China private. ThinkChina also takes a look at SOHO, and the high-profile couple behind it.

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam delivered "The Chief Executive's 2019 Policy Address" on October 16, amidst Hong Kong’s worst political crisis since the 1997 Handover. She announced housing plans and living subsidies to low-income households. Economist Prof Paul Yip opines that these are too little, too late and the wrong measures for current Hong Kong.