China's Housing Sector Keeps Growth MomentumMassive housing construction and increasing housing sales has spurred China's economic development, and the housing industry is becoming a major focus of consumer spending, said a senior official in Beijing Wednesday.Xie Jiajin, director of the housing and real estate department under the Ministry of Construction, said since the beginning of this year, real estate development in China has been rational and stable, the real estate market has begun to pick up, and ordinary residential housing is becoming the focus of investment. Addressing a symposium on China's housing development held in Beijing Wednesday, the official said that the housing reform aiming at selling houses to individuals instead of allocating them as welfare benefits is being carried out nationwide and has produced active results. At the same, commercial banks in the country offer mortgage loans for home buyers, and the public accumulation fund for housing construction has been established across the country. The official noted that housing development in China has great potential and will grow into a pillar sector of the national economy. According to the official, China is expected to build houses of 486 million-549 million square meters in floor space annually in the first 20 years of the next century, with investment to grow at an annual rate of seven percent. |
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