MNI China Press Digest Mar 27: Housing, Sino-Australia, EVs

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Wednesday:

• Home prices in first-tier cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are likely to hit bottom and stabilise this year, said Li Daokui, director of the Academic Center for Chinese Economic Practice and Thinking at Tsinghua University. Li believes home prices must continue to adjust and let the market mechanism repair itself. Wang Qing, chief macro analyst at Golden Credit Rating said the market may stabilise and rebound in H2, and the sector is expected to end the three-year adjustment period if policies provide strong enough support. (Source: 21st Century Business Herald)
• Beijing hopes Canberra will respect the WTO ruling against Australia over measures related to railway wheels, stainless steel sinks and wind towers, according to a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson in a Yicai published article. China wants to work with Australia to jointly safeguard the multilateral trading system and promote the healthy development of China-Australia economic and trade relations. The expert group's ruling was clear and unequivocal, and Canberra's discriminatory anti-dumping measures against Chinese companies were wrong, MOFCOM added. The Australian government has accepted the decision, noting the findings did not "diminish the integrity of Australia's trade remedies system."
• China will accelerate the release of a special assessment for the electric vehicle business of three central state-owned automakers, FAW Group, Dongfeng Motor, and Changan Automobile, to improve their competitiveness within the industry, China Securities Journal reported. It will adjust assessment indicators to fully consider the operating losses during the strategic investment period of new energy cars but focus on assessing their technology, market share and future development, the newspaper said citing officials.