THE country’s investment in property development rose 0.7% year on year in the first quarter of 2022, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed yesterday. During the period, property investment stood at around 2.78 trillion yuan (US$435.44 billion), NBS data showed. Investment in residential buildings went up 0.7% year on year to about 2.08 trillion yuan in the January-March period. During the period, commercial housing sales dropped 13.8% year on year in terms of floor area to 310.46 million square meters. In terms of value, commercial housing sales went down 22.7% to around 2.97 trillion yuan. China has reiterated its stance of “housing is for living in, not for speculation,” vowing to keep land prices, housing prices and market expectations stable and adopt city-specific measures to facilitate positive circulation and sound development in the real estate sector. The country will move faster to develop the long-term rental market, promote the construction of government-subsidized housing, and support the commodity housing market in better meeting the reasonable needs of homebuyers, according to this year’s government work report. (Xinhua) | 