Chinese vice-premier urges more ‘white list’ lending to stabilise housing market

He Lifeng calls for efforts to help China beat property sector slump, which has been a stumbling block to economic recovery

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China’s troubled property has seen a glimmer of hope from Beijing’s measures to stimulate consumption, investment and property sales. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:00pm, 13 Oct 2024

Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng has called for more loans and home delivery guarantees for targeted “white list” real estate projects to help stabilise a housing market that has been a stumbling block to the country’s economic recovery.

He made the remarks during a trip from Thursday to Saturday to the industrial city of Taiyuan in north China’s Shanxi province as well as Xian in neighbouring Shaanxi province, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua on Saturday.

He said the property market was a barometer of the macroeconomy, and better management of the sector was crucial for promoting a sustained economic recovery and protecting the interests of the people.

He highlighted the importance of real estate financing coordination mechanisms, and called for fixing “problematic” projects to meet China’s “white list” standards as soon as possible. Financial institutions should be more efficient at credit approval and loan disbursement, he added.

China launched a “project white list” mechanism in January, with local governments recommending to banks residential projects suitable for financial support and coordinating with financial institutions to meet project needs.

The mechanism is a key plank of Beijing’s efforts to ease the sector’s debt crisis and boost confidence in an industry that accounts for a quarter of China’s gross domestic product (GDP).

China’s commercial banks have approved 5,392 real estate white list projects, with nearly 1.4 trillion yuan (US$198 billion) in financing, according to the National Financial Regulatory Administration in August.