MNI China Press Digest Jun 16: Housing, Consumption, Exports

MNI (BEIJING) - Highlights from Chinese press reports on Monday:

• China will make greater efforts to help the real-estate market bottom out and recover, according to the State Council executive meeting. Authorities have pledged to conduct a comprehensive survey of available land and ongoing housing projects nationwide to improve policy effectiveness further and adopt a comprehensive approach to stabilise expectations, stimulate demand, optimise supply, and resolve risks, the meeting said. (Source: People’s Daily)
• Chinese consumers remain cautious about increasing leverage, with new short-term residential loans falling in May by CNY45.1 billion compared to the same period last year, Yicai.com reported, citing analysts. The decline was partly due to the suspension of consumer loans with interest rates below 3%, as well as the waning impact of the consumer goods trade-in scheme. Meanwhile, a CNY74.6 billion rise in medium- and long-term household loans was mainly driven by home purchases in higher-priced first- and second-tier cities, the report said.
• The impact of the recent U.S. tariff reduction on Chinese exports has yet to materialise fully, as exports to the U.S. still fell by 34.5% year-on-year in May, down a further 13.5 percentage points from April, according to Guan Tao, global chief economist at BOCI China, writing in Yicai.com. He attributed the lag to the time needed between the May 12 tariff cut announcement and the subsequent receipt of orders, production adjustments, and shipping. Guan also cautioned that the negative impact should not be underestimated, noting that many of the goods experiencing steep declines were lower in value and typically produced by small and medium-sized enterprises.