Real estate rise

Average property prices in China's 70 major cities climbed 5.7 per cent in July from a year earlier, just below the 5.8 per cent recorded in June, according to official figures.

Prices for newly constructed housing increased by 6.7 per cent last month from a year earlier, 0.1 of a percentage point higher than the previous month, according to a survey released by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics.

Economic housing and high-end property prices registered a year-on-year increase of 4.7 per cent and 8.9 per cent last month.

Residential house prices in Shenzhen, a city in South China bordering Hong Kong, jumped 13.6 per cent year-on-year, the highest rise of the cities surveyed.

FDI's downward trend

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in China continued to fall last month, but experts stressed that this does not mean foreign investors are losing confidence in the nation.

FDI in China stood at US$4.28 billion in July, down 5.49 per cent year-on-year, says the Ministry of Commerce, which approved 3,022 foreign-invested enterprises last month.

Citigroup economist Huang Yiping says the slight drop does not mean China is any less attractive to overseas investors, but it may indicate an overall slowdown in foreign investment.

FDI in the country totalled US$32.7 billion in the past seven months, down 1.16 per cent year-on-year.

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