Mainland funding rockets

Funding for real estate development in China soared 29.7 per cent year on year to 485.7 billion yuan (about HK$463.16 billion) in the first 11 months of last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The growth rate is 13.5 percentage points higher than that of fixed asset investment. Real estate investment accounted for more than 20 per cent of the country's fixed asset investment in the period.

The booming real estate sector had become one of the driving forces of China's economy and last year marked the beginning of a new expansion in the sector, a Xinhua report said.

Zeng Peiyan, Minister in Charge of the State Development and Planning Commission, said unlike the bubbles seen in the real estate sector in early 1990s, development during the past two years had been healthy.

In the first 11 months of last year, land development increased 34.8 and the completion of new housing by 17.6 per cent year on year, while the number of unsold buildings was on the decline, especially since May.

The structure of both investment and consumption has also been optimised.