China raises 1.4 tln yuan to fund property 'white list' projects

China's commercial banks have approved 5,392 real estate "white list" projects, with nearly 1.4 trillion yuan ($196.2 billion) of financing, according to the National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) on Wednesday.

In January this year, China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the General Administration of Financial Supervision issued a joint guiding document for the establishment of the urban real estate financing coordination mechanism.

In June, with the consent of China's State Council, the Financial Supervision Administration and the Ministry of Housing jointly issued a notice to improve the efficiency and quality of the push of "white list" projects, put forward a number of optimization measures to further advance the urban financing coordination mechanism, meet the reasonable financing needs of real estate projects, and effectively support the work of ensuring housing delivery.

The "white list" projects that meet the requirements have received timely financial support, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of buyers and stabilizing the real estate market, said Liao Yuanyuan, director of the Statistics and Risk Surveillance Department at the NFRA.

Up to now, the balance of real estate development loans has increased by more than 400 billion yuan from the beginning of the year, the balance of operating property loans has increased by 19 percent, and the balance of merger and acquisition loans has increased by 21 percent, said Liao.

She added that from January to July this year, commercial banks issued 3.1 trillion yuan of new personal housing loans, effectively supporting residents' rigid and improved housing demand.

She stated that in the next step, the Financial Supervision Administration will work with relevant departments to continue to promote the consolidation of responsibilities of local governments, real estate enterprises and financial institutions, guide financial institutions in real estate financial services, and support the stable and healthy development of the real estate market as a whole.

(Cover via CFP)