Beijing to increase housing supply in 2018 -- Beijing plans to allocate 1,200 hectares of land for the building of residential houses this year, and more will be added to further develop the city's house rental market. The remarks were made by acting mayor Chen Jining while delivering the government work report at the opening of the annual session of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress on January 24. Beijing in 2018 will promote the construction of 2.9 million square meters of joint ownership houses and 6 million square meters of commercial houses, of which the construction lands have already been allocated.
China province to phase out small mines -- The northern Chinese province of Shanxi will phase out collieries with annual production capacity of less than 600,000 tonnes by the end of 2020, local authorities said on January 22. The small mines are encouraged to merge, said the provincial government in a guideline on mergers and capacity cuts of coal mines. Any single coal mining company must have an annual capacity of over 3 million tonnes by 2020. Open-pit coal mines must have annual production capacity of no less than 5 million tonnes after mergers. Shanxi had more than 900 coal mines in operation or under construction at the end of 2017.
China steps up banking oversight to prevent risks -- China's top banking regulator has proved with actions that oversight in the banking sector will be tightened and regulatory standards will become stricter. China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has fined the Chengdu branch of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank (SPD Bank) for 462 million yuan (about 72 million U.S. dollars) for illegally covering up bad loans.
China plans to industrialize smart car technology -- China plans to push forward the development of smart cars and achieve the industrialization of key technology in the field, an official with the country's top economic planner said on January 22. China will unveil a three-year action plan to propose solutions for the industrialization of smart car technology such as chips and automatic driving systems, Yan Pengcheng, spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), told a press conference.
China to better manage cross-border capital flow -- China's central bank said it will introduce a "counter-cyclical coefficient" to better manage capital flow of the Chinese yuan. Commercial bank financing business will be under the regulation, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said on January 19. "The upper limit of financing will be determined by a bank's balance of deposits and a counter-cyclical coefficient, which currently stands at 3 percent." The PBOC said the move will improve financing and support cross-border business.
China to add more rentals to ease housing headache -- China will build more rental housing for people in cities where housing prices have left people unable to afford homes. Besides imposing purchase restrictions and higher mortgage rates last year, China is exploring ways to increase the housing supply. Non-real estate companies may be allowed to build residential housing on their land, said Minister of Land and Resources Jiang Daming on January 22.
A single purchase
