China wants to pump billions into the struggling housing market

News in Five China wants to pump billions into the struggling housing market Article by C. Peters • 5 hours • 2 minutes reading time Beijing (dpa) – China is lending billions to the struggling real estate market. By the end of the year, support for housing projects on the "white list" is to be expanded to a total of up to four trillion yuan (around 517.4 billion euros), said Housing Minister Ni Hong. The list introduced by the government in January contains projects and developers that are suitable for financing. As of mid-October, according to official figures, loans totaling 2.23 trillion yuan had been approved. China will thus almost double its loan volume by the end of the year. The People's Republic wants to ensure that unfinished projects are completed and the downward trend in the sector is stopped. "We can definitely win the battle to ensure that apartments are handed over," said Ni. According to him, the nationwide real estate market has now bottomed out after three years of "adjustment". Government wants to restore confidence The pressure is therefore on the banks and local governments to distribute the loans. On the markets, however, investors had hoped for more concrete steps from the central government in Beijing. Only in September did China announce that it would lower interest rates for borrowers of housing loans. With this and other steps, the government tried to restore confidence among consumers. Since large property developers were no longer able to service their creditors a few years ago and were unable to complete apartments they had already bought, there has been uncertainty. The value of real estate in which many Chinese had invested their savings fell. The crisis in the sector, which had been considered a guarantee of growth for years, also contributed to the decline in consumer sentiment in China, as many people held on to their money. This is also one reason for the weak recovery of the world's second largest economy after the corona pandemic.