Housing

This photo taken on 20 June 2023 shows a view of a complex of unfinished apartment buildings in Xinzheng city in Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. (Pedro Pardo/AFP)

Can new policies revive China's home sales?

In a bid to boost home purchases in what has normally been the peak sales period of September and October, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have announced preferential policies for homebuyers. However, Lianhe Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing notes that market confidence is still at a low; are the new policies enough to boost the Chinese property market’s recovery?
Residential buildings at the Evergrande Palace project, developed by China Evergrande Group, in Beijing, China, on 18 August 2023. (Bloomberg)

The dangerous link between China’s real estate demise, the economy and the financial system

With Chinese property giant Evergrande filing for bankruptcy in the US and other companies like Country Garden tottering on the brink, China’s property sector is plunging further into a crisis that could have major ramifications on the country’s real economy and financial sector. Economist Alicia García Herrero explains.
People ride past residential buildings developed by Country Garden Holdings Co. in Baoding, Hebei province, China, 1 August 2023. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

China’s property crisis contagion spreads to state-backed developers

With sluggish sales, a growing list of unfinished projects and mounting debt repayments, China's property crisis, which is stretching into its third year, is now spreading to state-owned developers.
Attendees at the ChinaJoy Expo in Shanghai, China, on 30 July 2023. (Qilai Shen/Bloomberg)

China’s first half GDP growth: Has the economy bottomed out?

While the latest economic data from China show encouraging GDP growth, taken in context, many provinces are actually seeing slower growth as compared with the first quarter of this year. Lianhe Zaobao journalist Li Kang examines the figures and speaks to economists to find out more.
The central business district in Beijing on 17 July 2023. (Jade Gao/AFP)

Beijing unrattled despite weak Q2

While China's housing market and exports are down, its consumption figures look to be improving and there are bright spots in the renewable energy and semiconductor sectors, says China research analyst Chen Long. A huge stimulus is unlikely to be in the offing, as Beijing still seems convinced that a more organic rebound, while slow and gradual, is better than a quick, policy-driven one.
This picture shows workers on a construction site in Shenmu, Shaanxi province, China, on 24 April 2023. (Wang Zhao/AFP)

China’s housing downturn: Household registration reform needed

In China, policy easing in real estate continues even as calls for greater stimulus packages get louder. But to address the nub of the property downturn, says PIIE researcher Tianlei Huang, long-term challenges such as supply-demand imbalances and the discriminatory household registration system should be addressed.
Tenants living in Baimang started getting eviction notices in mid-May.

Why Shenzhen's plan to transform 'urban villages' is causing distress

Urban villages are a historical product of Shenzhen’s urbanisation process. Today, local governments may have good intentions in implementing “centralised leasing” (统租) and upgrading work, but existing tenants may feel they are being shortchanged. Daryl Lim looks into the matter.
A traffic light is seen near a construction site of residential buildings in Shanghai, China, 20 July 2022. (Aly Song/Reuters)

Shanghai's falling property prices indicate economic gloom in China

China’s property market has been in the doldrums, and prices have been falling, not least in Shanghai. And as prices in Shanghai fall, so will prices in other Chinese cities. Zaobao correspondent Chen Jing looks at the impact of property market movements on the overall Chinese economy.
People walk through an underpass in Beijing on 22 March 2023. (Wang Zhao/AFP)

Will China's economy suffer a 'lost decade' just like Japan?

Pondering the possibility that China’s economy is going the way of Japan's 30 years ago, Japanese researcher Toshiya Tsugami analyses some similarities and differences between the two trajectories.