China's building materials industry expands despite property cooling moves

China's building materials industry continued to expand in the first half, despite government attempts to cool the speculative housing market, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced Monday.

The country's cement production reached a monthly record of 172 million tonnes in June, bringing the total production to 848 million tonnes in the first half.

First-half production was up 17.5 percent year on year, said a statement on the MIIT website.

Production of sheet glass, which is used for windows in home construction, rose 15.2 percent year on year to 315 million weight boxes in the first half.

Production of ceramic tiles surged by 25 percent to 3.61 billion square meters in the first six months. [Other building materials, such as flagstones, tiles and bricks, all saw fast growth, according to the MIIT statement.

The government adopted a series of measures to rein in soaring home prices and curb property market speculation in April. The measures included tighter scrutiny of applications for financing, limiting of loans for third-home purchases and higher down payments for second homes.

The property market has started cooling as average housing prices in 70 major cities fell 0.1 percent in June from May.

Source: Xinhua