China launches 5 experiment satellites

China sent a group of five experiment satellites into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China on Thursday.

The five satellites were launched by a Long March-2D carrier rocket at 15:17 (Beijing Time) and have entered the planned orbit.

The launch was the 551st mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.

Residential housing sales in Shanghai have recovered over the past month, with sales of pre-owned apartments seeing a steady rise.

Wang Tianci, a property agent in the city, now posts videos to social media platforms, showing housings up for sale.

So far, the strategy is paying off, as he's gained over 10,000 followers over the past six months. The number of prospective buyers he's been in touch with has also grown substantially.

Wang oversees several residential compounds, mostly high-end properties. Starting on Dec 1, the rates of deed tax and value-added tax for real estate purchases have been reduced. These policies have spurred buyers to explore the market.

"Most apartments in our area are priced above 20 million yuan (2.75 million US dollars). Buyers need to pay 500,000 yuan (nearly 69,000 US dollars) or even more in value-added tax. But the new policy helps to reduce the tax by one to two million yuan. Previously I was seeing maybe one to two prospective buyers a week, now it's four or five," Wang said.

In November, over 27,000 apartments were sold in Shanghai, a staggering 44-month high.

In the same month, the number of pre-owned apartments sold in Shanghai recorded a year-on-year growth of 11 percent.

"We are still facing an economic slowdown, so we need to be patient for a larger, overall economic recovery. But I think the policies are effective. We are just waiting for the economy to recover, and I believe the property market will see a healthy development pattern in the near future," said Caroline Jin, head of residential of East China Cushman and Wakefield, a global commercial real estate services leader.

It's not only Shanghai that's welcoming these policies, but other first-tier cities are also looking to stimulate their respective residential housing markets.

In Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, sales of new apartments jumped by over 158 percent in November, while sales of pre-owned apartments jumped by over 100 percent, the highest in 46 months.

Stabilizing the property market was once again mentioned at the meeting held by the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Monday, setting out a clear tone that the healthy development of the housing market is a top priority.