China's commercial banks have approved financing worth nearly 1.4 trillion yuan (about 196.2 billion U.S. dollars) for property projects so far this year, a National Financial Regulatory Administration (NFRA) official said on Wednesday.
The country has achieved significant progress in supporting real estate project financing since it introduced a plan to establish a financing coordination mechanism for the real estate sector in January this year, Liao Yuanyuan, director of the Statistics and Risk Surveillance Department at the banking sector regulator, told a press conference.
The mechanism aims to satisfy the legitimate financing needs of real estate projects, while supporting the stable and sound growth of the country's real estate market, according to the plan released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the NFRA.
"The mechanism, with cities as its executive body and projects at its center, have precisely provided bank financing to real estate projects and yielded significant progress through joint efforts by all sides. At present, commercial banks have greenlit a total 5,392 real estate projects for financing support, and approved financing of nearly 1.4 trillion yuan. With the financing coordination mechanism, real estate projects on the white list have received financing support, timely. This plays a positive role in facilitating project completion, safeguarding the legitimate rights of homebuyers, and stabilizing the real estate market," said Liao.
The banking sector regulator has been actively steering financial institutions towards providing enhanced financing services to the real estate sector, resulting in a consistent increase in real estate financing, according to Liao.
"Since the beginning of this year, NFRA has continuously guided financial institutions to provide real estate financing services through multiple channels, and made full use of policies including the financing coordination mechanism. The financing granted by banking institutions to the real estate sector has maintained steady growth. As of now, the loan balance for real estate development has surged by over 400 billion yuan from that in the beginning of the year. Operating property loans witnessed a 19-percent year-on-year increase, and acquisition loans have grown by 21 percent. From January to July this year, commercial banks have issued a total of 3.1 trillion yuan (about 434.5 billion U.S. dollars) in new housing loans, effectively supporting people in buying their first homes or improving their housing situation," Liao explained.
China provides 1.4 trillion yuan in financing to boost real estate sector: official
China's scientific expedition team on Thursday obtained critical ice cores during their investigation of the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, which is known as Asia's "water tower".
The region encompasses "one glacier, two lakes and three rivers". It is home to Purog Kangri Glacier, the world's largest glacier in the mid to low-latitude regions, as well as Siling Lake and Namtso Lake, the largest and second-largest lakes in Xizang, respectively. It is also the birthplace of the Yangtze River, Nujiang River and Yarlung Zangbo River.
The climate in the region is complex and changeable, and its ecosystem is very fragile, and meanwhile it is a pivotal area for Xizang's economic and social development.
During their expedition, the team drilled for ice cores at different depths overnight on Thursday, aiming to capture climate records from different time scales.
Ice core drilling is typically conducted during the night and early morning when the ice temperature is sufficiently low.
Ice cores serve as vital records of global climate and environmental changes. The sediments and bubbles within these cores are clues to understanding the history of Earth's climate. By studying the bubbles captured in ice cores, scientists can analyze atmospheric composition, including carbon dioxide levels, over hundreds of thousands of years.
Yao Tandong, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and leader of the expedition, and Lonnie Thompson, a renowned American glacier expert and foreign academician at CAS, conducted their scientific expedition on the glacier Thursday morning.
Through helicopter observations, thickness-measuring radar, satellite image comparison and other methods, the scientific expedition team has found that the surface area of the Purog Kangri Glacier has shrunk by 10 percent over the past 50 years.
The average altitude of Purog Kangri Glacier is 5,748 meters, with the highest point reaching 6,370 meters. Due to global warming, the glacier is melting rapidly.
"So does the melting of glacier surface -- the higher the altitudes, the less the ablation volume, while at lower altitudes, it accumulates and forms branch-like rivers on the ice surface. Currently, these branches extend up to altitudes of 6,000 meters," said Xu Baiqing, a research fellow of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research under the CAS.
Research indicates that the accelerated retreat of glaciers on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau over the past 40 years reflects a broader trend, and the melting rate of the Purog Kangri Glacier is relatively slow compared to the overall situation of the plateau.
The temperature changes within the glacier also attributed to the great difficulty of drilling, said Xu.
"Due to climate warming, the temperature within the glacier has risen, which suggests that under the same backdrop of temperature variations, the ablation may show abrupt shift with accelerating growth," said Xu.
The expedition was launched on Aug 18, 2024 and is scheduled to continue until October.
Scientists obtain critical ice cores during expedition in Qinghai-Xizang Plateau
