{"id":55577,"date":"2026-01-04T05:29:52","date_gmt":"2026-01-04T10:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/property-industry-remains-an-enemy-within-for-beijings-economic-targets\/04\/01\/2026\/"},"modified":"2026-01-04T05:29:52","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T10:29:52","slug":"property-industry-remains-an-enemy-within-for-beijings-economic-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/property-industry-remains-an-enemy-within-for-beijings-economic-targets\/04\/01\/2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Property industry remains an enemy within for Beijing’s economic targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The slumbering property sector<\/a> remains a threat to China’s economic growth because of its huge impact on the employment rate and consumer demand, according to industry officials and analysts.<\/p>\n

Amid sharp declines in property investment, housing sales and home prices last year, a further downturn of the significant sector may put more developers, workers, homebuyers and banks at risk.<\/p>\n

In the first 11 months of 2025, new properties worth 7.5 trillion yuan (US$1.07 trillion), comprising units for dwelling and commercial use, were sold across mainland China, down 11.1 per cent from a year earlier, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.<\/p>\n

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge<\/a>, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.<\/p>\n

Home sales slumped 11.2 per cent year on year, the bureau said, without releasing the value of total transactions. This exceeded Fitch Ratings’ forecast of a 7 per cent year-on-year decline for 2025. Completion of new properties in the first 11 months fell 7.8 per cent from a year earlier to 787 million square metres (8.5 billion sq ft), the statistics showed.<\/p>\n

“A ripple effect will spread to other industries if the real estate sector continues a downward spiral,” said Yin Ran, a property and angel investor in Shanghai. “Without strong home sales, millions of companies such as home appliance makers would struggle to keep their businesses afloat.”<\/p>\n

The property sector and related industries, such as home appliances and construction materials, account for about a quarter of mainland economic output.<\/p>\n

The property and construction industries alone represent about 13 per cent of the country’s economic output, as well as more than 70 million jobs.<\/p>\n

As of November, the inventory of completed properties in China was 1 per cent lower than the end of 2024, while home sales during the first 11 months of 2025 plunged 8.1 per cent from a year earlier in terms of gross floor area, according to the NBS.<\/p>\n

“This suggests destocking is lagging the contraction in sales,” Fitch said in a research report released last week. “We expect the elevated home inventories to continue pressuring home prices in 2026.”<\/p>\n

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A woman passes a residential complex in the district of Changping on the outskirts of Beijing on December 24, 2025. Photo: AP Photo alt=A woman passes a residential complex in the district of Changping on the outskirts of Beijing on December 24, 2025. Photo: AP Photo><\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n