Is Dandong’s soaring home price the first instalment of the Korean peninsula’s peace dividend?
April home prices jump 2 per cent in Dandong, the Chinese gateway to North Korea on the banks of the Yalu River, the biggest gain out of 70 cities
Dandong, the Chinese city bordering North Korea, registered the fastest-rising home prices in April among 70 Chinese cities monitored by the government, as tensions on the Korean peninsula eased.
The 2.4 million-population city in Liaoning Province within easy sight of North Korea across the Yalu River, saw new home prices jump 2 per cent over the previous month, the highest month-on-month increase among 70 closely monitored Chinese cities, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The jump followed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s visit to Beijing in late March, which appeared to cement warmer relations between both those countries, and North and South Korea.
The leaders of China and North Korea met for the second time in two months on May 8, when Kim stayed overnight in the northerneastern Chinese port city of Dalian – even taking a stroll on a beachfront walkway with President Xi Jinping – which again may well improve Dandong prices in May.
April’s Dandong home price rises were much bigger than headline official data had suggested, say local agents.