MNI China Press Digest Nov 23: Finance, Trade Surplus, Housing

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Thursday:

• China should increase financial support to ensure the delivery of housing projects, meet reasonable financing needs of property developers to reduce their credit-default risks and ease residents’ concerns over purchasing off-plan properties, said the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress after reviewing the work report made by Pan Gongsheng, governor at the People’s Bank of China. It is necessary to keep optimising home-purchase policies and further promote financing institutions to lower actual lending rates and extend credit to automobiles, home furnishings and electronic products. (Source: NPC website)
• China’s trade surplus will shrink next year as the world economic slowdown keeps demand for manufactured exports subdued, while improvements in China-U.S. relations will increase import demand for U.S. agricultural products, according to Zhang Ming, deputy director at the National Institution for Finance and Development. Zhang said the stock market will perform better in 2024 due to the recent strengthening of the yuan and marginal improvements in macro data. (Source: Yicai)
• Shenzhen has lowered the minimum down-payment ratio for second homes to 40% from the previous 70-80% starting Thursday, one of the first tier-one cities to do so. Authorities also adjusted the standard for ordinary housings by removing the price cap of less than CNY7.5 million, which will allow more homebuyers to enjoy preferential tax policies. The housing market in Shenzhen may rebound for one-two months, but sustainability needs further observation, as the overall regulation remains relatively strict and buyer confidence has not yet fully recovered, said Zhang Hongwei, founder of Jingjian Consulting. (Source: The Beijing News)