China's central bank has pledged to maintain orderly growth for the property sector while continuing to monitor and control financial risks.
The People's Bank of China held a meeting on April 29 to discuss implementing financial support for the economy and called for "stable and orderly" growth in the real estate sector, according to a statement yesterday.
The central bank will also further manage financial risks effectively to avoid systemic financial risks, it added.
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission also echoed the PBOC's comments for orderly growth.
This came as the Shenzhen Stock Exchange said yesterday that it encouraged better-off developers to issue bonds to raise funds for its mergers and acquisitions.
China's second-largest stock exchange said it supports the reasonable financing needs of developers and encourages high-quality real estate firms to issue corporate bonds for funding its acquisitions, with an aim to promote the stable and healthy development of the sector.
Regarding technology platforms, the PBOC said in the statement that it will implement the "normalized" supervision of online platform companies' financial activities, reiterating comments from top leaders last week.
In a separate statement, the PBOC said it had allocated an additional 100 billion yuan (HK$118.77 billion) worth of loans dedicated to coal production and storage, part of Beijing's efforts to boost energy security and stabilize supply chains.
The funding is on top of a 200 billion yuan loan allotted in late 2021 for the coal industry, including projects such as smart coal mining.
Economists say Beijing's target of about 5.5 percent economic growth this year will be hard to achieve without significant stimulus, as lockdowns and other tough curbs to battle the pandemic have caused havoc in supply chains.
UBS lowered its forecast for China's economic growth this year to 4.2 percent from 5 percent, as nationwide lockdowns put pressure on production and consumption.
Meanwhile, Singapore's state-owned investor Temasek expects Chinese growth to rebound in the second half as the government stimulates the economy, to chief investment officer Rohit Sipahimalani said.
