[photopress:China_Mainland_real_estate_market.jpg,full,alignright]The efforts of the central government to cool down China’s real estate sector are being somewhat negated by the actions of the banks. According to the People’s Bank of China, the central bank, real estate received the highest amount of medium and long-term loans of any industry in 2006.
Real estate borrowed RMB335.9 billion ($43.6 billion) from major banking institutions nationwide last year. This is a growth of RMB176.2 billion ($22.9 billion) over a year ago.
At the end of 2006, loans outstanding for the real estate sector stood at RMB1.1 trillion ($146.2 billion), up 42%.
Source: People’s Daily