China to introduce incremental policies to prop up property sector

BEIJING, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- China will introduce a slew of incremental measures to stabilize the property sector, Ni Hong, minister of housing and urban-rural development, told a press conference on Thursday.

The government will step up support for urban village and dilapidated housing renovation projects, Ni said, adding that China will complete the renovation of an additional 1 million such housing units by providing monetary compensation to residents.

The minister stressed all eligible real estate projects will be included in the "white list" mechanism and that their reasonable financing needs will be met through loans.

As of Oct. 16, loans approved for the "white list" real estate projects have reached 2.23 trillion yuan (about 313.11 billion U.S. dollars), Xiao Yuanqi, deputy head of the National Financial Regulatory Administration, said at the press conference.

It is expected that by the end of this year, the approved loan amount for "white list" projects will double to over 4 trillion yuan, Xiao said.

Under the "white list" mechanism launched in late January, local authorities are recommending that financial institutions provide financial support to eligible real estate projects.

The mechanism is part of China's efforts to stabilize the sector weighed by debt problems and boost confidence in an industry that accounts for nearly 6 percent of the country's GDP.