Feb. car sales up 2.6%
FEBRUARY car sales in China rose 2.6 percent from a year ago to 967,200 units, the official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) said yesterday.
That compared with 1.53 million units sold in January, which was up 16.2 percent from a year earlier, according to data provided by CAAM. After two consecutive years of breakneck expansion, China s auto market is expected to return to a slower but more rational growth pattern beginning this years. The scrapping of government tax incentives, along with local governments initiatives to tackle ever-worsening traffic congestion, will help slow the once sizzling market.
Property demand driven by speculators
CHINA S rising property market in the past few years was driven in part by unreasonable demand from speculators, according to Qi Ji, Vice Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
The government s property curbs are targeted principally at those who don t have an immediate need for housing as accommodation, Qi said in a press briefing in Beijing yesterday. Our basic aim is to direct the limited supply of housing to those who need it the most, he said.
China cancels some banks punitive reserves
CHINA has reversed punitive increases of required reserves previously imposed on several banks, because they were more cautious in issuing loans in February, two sources said Tuesday.
The sources, who were familiar with the details, did not name the banks. They said the change was part of China s dynamic differentiated required reserve ratio system. If the pace of lending is reasonable, and indicators like capital adequacy ratio are normal, then it is natural to lower RRR, one source said. Xinhua reported in February that the People s Bank of China had imposed punitive reserve increases on more than 40 banks this year to tame aggressive lending.
