China Housing Regulator Orders Five Cities to Stabilize Markets

China's Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development summoned officials from five Chinese cities with excess gains in home and land prices and ordered them to toughen measures to control the markets and promote healthier development, reported China Construction News owned by the ministry. The published cities, including the western Autonomous Region Ningxia's capital Yinchuan, Huizhou in Guangdong, and Quanzhou in Fujian, will join a list being monitored by all levels of regulatory authorities, the newspaper said. MNI notes that the central government has stepped up measures preventing high property prices from contributing to hidden risks and social discontent, now that growth is likely on target this year.