MNI China Press Digest Aug 16: Retail Sales, Hukou, Property

MNI (BEIJING (MNI)) - Highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• Retail sales in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou fell 6.3%, 9.4% and 9.6% y/y in June, as the property downturn impacted residents' consumption, Caixin reported. Beijing and Shanghai saw per capita disposable income growth reach 4.2% and 4.4% y/y in H1, the lowest nationwide, Caixin noted. Consumption in central regions was outperforming tier-one cities due to population inflow and better balanced industries, the newspaper said.
• China’s central government needs to directly manage household registration at city level to avoid local governments from issuing inconsistent and non-compliant rules when implementing Hukou reforms, according to Yao Yang, director at the China Center for Economic Research. According to Yao's calculations, rural residents increase consumption by 12-13% after receiving an urban Hukou. Increased urbanisation would lift the real-estate market and kick-off a new round of infrastructure investment, Yao noted.
• China’s July property data shows a continued downward trendand growing regional differences, according to Zhang Bo, director at 58 Anjuke Property Research Institute. The sales price of tier-one new builds fell by 0.5% month-on-month, versus 0.6% and 0.7% in tier-two and three cities, the data showed. Guan Rongxue, senior analyst at Zhuge Data Research Center, noted market expectations remained weak as the housing sector showed no positive change in transaction volume and price.