China's top central banker cautions against hot property prices

[BEIJING] China's central bank governor stepped up the rhetoric against rapid rises in home prices and continued credit growth, signalling further action on top of recent fresh curbs across a number of cities to cool their overheated real estate markets.

Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People's Bank of China (PBoC), said the Chinese government is "paying close attention" to rising property prices in some cities and will take appropriate measures to promote the real estate market's "healthy development".

The remarks were made at a G20 meeting in Washington earlier this week and released by the PBOC on its website on Saturday.

A number of Chinese cities, including Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Chengdu and Wuhan, announced new restrictions on property purchases and mortgage downpayment during China's week-long National Day holiday in the beginning of October. The moves came as part of an effort to ward off property speculation.

Mr Zhou's latest remarks signalled that Beijing will continue to target speculators and curb credit risks in the property sector to prevent bubbles.

While a property boom has helped to support China's economic growth, fuelling demand for everything from construction materials to furniture, it is seen as adding credit risks to the banking system and China's debt problem.

Mr Zhou told the G20 meeting China will control credit growth as the global economy recovers.

The International Monetary Fund said in August that China needed to slow its credit growth and stop funding weak firms, highlighting the worries among policymakers about the dangers of an unsustainable debt build-up triggering a banking crisis.

REUTERS