Chinese vice premier stresses delivery of homes, expand white list mechanism to stabilize property sector

XI'AN, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng has called for efforts to ensure the delivery of homes, and increase loans for real estate projects under the "white list" mechanism in order to facilitate the bottoming out of the housing market.

He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks during an investigation and research trip to Taiyuan, Shanxi and Xi'an, Shaanxi from Thursday to Saturday.

The property market is a barometer of the macroeconomy, and doing a good job in the sector is crucial for promoting sustained economic recovery and safeguarding the vital interests of the people, he said.

China in January announced a plan to establish a financing coordination mechanism for the real estate sector with the aim of satisfying the legitimate financing needs of property projects on the "white list" and supporting the stable and sound growth of the market.

He urged giving full play to the role of the real estate financing coordination mechanisms, and accelerating fixing problematic projects to meet the "white list" standards as soon as possible. Financial institutions should increase their efficiency in credit approval and loan disbursement, he said.

To ensure the quality and on-time delivery of homes, the vice premier called for further expanding the scopes of property projects under the mechanisms, by including all eligible commercial housing projects under construction and sold into the scope of support, and safeguarding the demand for project construction funds.

The acquisition of existing commercial housing for use as affordable housing should also be advanced, he said. The affordable housing re-lending policy should be implemented well in order to accelerate the reduction of inventory in the commercial housing market, he added.

He also visited large supermarkets in Taiyuan and key foreign trade enterprises in Xi'an to learn about trade-in programs for consumer goods and the export situation of enterprises.