China’s property slump is easing, but the relief will be short-lived
Without reforms, the sector is doomed to cycles of boom and bust
The love-hate relationship goes on. For almost two years China’s leaders cracked down on borrowing to build and bet on property, plunging the market into a crisis. Now that the economy has been weakened by the failures of the “zero-covid” policy, the government is racing to rescue real estate. Ni Hong, China’s housing minister, has said his ambition this year is to restore confidence; a series of measures announced in the past few months seek to make it easier for developers to raise capital. These efforts are reviving the property market. Unfortunately, they leave it just as vulnerable to boom and bust as ever.
This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Rescue and repeat”
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