MNI China Press Digest March 21: Land Sales, Services, PBOC

Highlights from Chinese press reports on Friday:

• Land auction sales in core Chinese cities are heating up as real-estate developers become increasingly confident in new home sales, according to Cao Jingjing, general manager at the China Index Academy. The Securities Daily cited a recent residential plot sale in Zhengzhou selling at a 87.5% premium after 255 rounds of bidding and noted 12 of the 16 plots sold in Hangzhou went for above asking price, including several more than 40% above.
• China will further open up its service sector and match international rules to boost services trade, said Premier Li Qiang, during a Fujian province visit. Beijing will increase efforts to attract and stabilise foreign investment and improve the business environment to support foreign-funded companies better, Li said. (Source: Xinhua News Agency)
• The People’s Bank of China is expected to cut policy interest rates in Q2 while considering changes in the real-estate market, trade environment and price trends, Securities Daily reported, citing Wang Qing, an analyst at Golden Credit Rating. Wang said a policy cut would guide down Loan Prime Rate quotations, which have remained unchanged for five months. However LPR levels could still fall independent of policy cuts, Wang added. One-year and five-year LPR currently stand at 3.1% and 3.6%.