Cranes are seen at a construction site of a housing complex in Beijing. Photo: VCG

Chinese authorities are ramping up efforts to finish stalled real estate projects and ensure housing delivery to home buyers, an official from the housing ministry said on Wednesday, adding that the government is defusing market risks.

Wang Shengjun, spokesperson of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, made the remarks at a press conference on China's housing progress over the past 10 years.

The ministry, together with the Ministry of Finance and the People's Bank of China, has launched special measures to support cities in need of promoting the construction and delivery of stalled residential projects by rolling out special loans offered by the country's policy banks, Wang said. 

"Currently, the task is being carried out in an intense and orderly manner," Wang added. 

Special loans being offered by policy banks reassure all participants in the market, which has had a positive effect on solving the recent stalled housing projects and preventing the occurrence of real estate-linked financial risks, Yan Yuejin, director of the Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institute, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Xu Jiayin, chairman of cash-strapped property giant China Evergrande Group, said on Monday that the company has 706 construction projects in China, of which 668 have resumed construction and 38 have not. Those projects not resuming construction are required to fully resume work before September 30, according to the official WeChat account of Evergrande.

To stabilize residential property markets, different cities in China are taking measures to guarantee housing deliveries to home buyers.

On September 6, Zhengzhou in Central China's Henan Province required full and substantial resumption of work on suspended and semi-suspended projects in early October.

On July 28, a meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, held to analyze the current economic situation and arrange economic work for the second half of the year, called for work to ensure the real estate market remain stable, adhering to the principle that "houses are for living, not for speculation".

Support will be offered to meet the inelastic and upgraded demand for housing, ensure the completion of housing under construction, and guarantee people's livelihood, the meeting said. 

CRIC, a property research center, noted that the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the Ministry of Finance and the central bank introduced measures in August to support the construction and delivery of stalled housing projects through special loans offered by the policy banks. So far, at least 10 cities including Nanning, Huzhou and Shaoxing have introduced policies such as bailout funds to stabilize local property market and boost market confidence.

Zhengzhou last month announced a real estate fund worth 10 billion yuan ($1.47 billion) to facilitate stalled housing construction.

Reuters reported that the city government has proposed ways to several developers to resolve the stalled housing, including through loans, mergers and acquisitions, as well as turning the projects into subsidized rental housing.

Global Times