China's Guangzhou city relaxes curbs on commercial property

[SHANGHAI] China's Guangzhou city has relaxed restrictions placed on commercial property last year, in the latest sign of efforts by local governments to revive flagging real estate sales which have weighed on economic growth.

Guangzhou, one of China's top tier cities, moved to cool its property market in March last year by issuing measures which included curbs that prevented individuals from buying commercial property.

That restriction will now be eased, the Guangzhou Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Committee said in a statement on its website on Wednesday.

It said that developers who built on land that was sold before March 2017 will now be able to sell commercial property to all buyers, including individuals, in a policy change that will take effect from Thursday.

The southern Chinese city's move come as after Heze city earlier this week reversed a rule to designed to curb real estate flipping, the first of its kind since authorities around the country began taking steps about two years ago to control soaring house prices.

REUTERS