MNI China Press Digest Apr 17: Weak Demand, Housing, Delisting

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• Authorities should increase policy intensity to address weak demand and stabilise the housing market, following the deceleration in March macroeconomic data, 21st Century Business Herald reported citing analysts. Retail sales slowed to 3.1% y/y from the previous 5.5% gain, as the real-estate downturn dampened spending on home appliances, decoration materials, and household items, said Zhang Yongjun, secretary general of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges. Yuekai Securities Chief Economist Luo Zhiheng said restrictive housing policies in first-tier cities should be relaxed further or gradually canceled, while assessment of financial institutions should be appropriately adjusted to help meet developers’ reasonable financing needs and avoid hard landings in real estate.
• March's typical housing boom failed to materialise this year as home prices and sales continued to fall across the country, Caixin reported. The sales prices of new and established homes in 70 large cities fell by 0.3% and 0.5% m/m in March, National Bureau of Statistics data showed. However, some cities with continuous population inflow, such as Shanghai and Xi’an, have seen new home prices rise for three consecutive months, though still not enough to say the local property market has fully recovered. The area of new home sales fell 19.4% y/y nationwide in Q1, the NBS data showed.
• China’s top securities regulator said the new delisting rules will not impact the market in the short term as it has made arrangements about a transition period, Guo Ruiming, director of the Listed Company Supervision Department of the China Securities Regulatory Commission said in a statement on its website. There are about 30 companies that could be subject to delisting according to the applicable combined financial indicators in the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges next year. About 100 companies may receive delisting risk warnings and be given more than a year and a half to improve their operations before end-2025.