China’s housing authority said RMB 123.6 billion ($17.20 billion) of development loans have been approved and RMB 29.4 billion have been issued under a special mechanism aimed at injecting liquidity into the crisis-hit property sector, reports Reuters. Under China’s “whitelist” mechanism launched on Jan. 26, city governments recommend residential projects to banks suitable for financial support, and coordinate with financial institutions to meet project needs.
The mechanism is a key plank of Beijing’s efforts to stabilise the property sector’s debt crisis and boost confidence in an industry that accounts for a quarter of China’s GDP.
So far 214 cities across the nation have set up the mechanism, recommending more than 5,300 projects to banks, according to statement from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Tuesday evening. Of this total, RMB 29.4 billion of loans involving 162 projects in 52 cities have been issued, it added.