China April property investment quickens, sales slow – and more of Today’s China Real Estate Links | May 15, 2013

Here is a list of the day’s latest China real estate news collected from around the web:

• China April property investment quickens, sales slow

  Growth in real estate investment in China quickened in the first four months as developers saw improved liquidity conditions, though property sales slowed slightly due to continuing government curbs.

  Real estate investment, which affects more than 40 other sectors from cement and steel to furniture, rose 21.1 percent in the first four months of 2013 from a year earlier, quickening from an annual increase of 20.2 in the first quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

  Revenues from property sales in January-April eased slightly to 59.8 percent from a surge of 61.3 percent in the January to March period, the NBS said.

• Toys R Us expands in China

  Eyeing the tremendous business opportunities in the Chinese toy market, United States-based toy retailer Toys R Us is accelerating its expansion in China and plans to have 100 stores in the country in the next three years.

  The multinational retailer currently operates 34 stores around China, including the new premises that opened on May 11 in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province. The company will have 50 stores around China by the end of 2013.

  Toys R Us entered into China in 2006 by opening its first flagship store in Super Brand Mall in the Shanghai Pudong New Area. The company declined to reveal its sales growth rate in the country but said it had achieved double-digit growth in the past few years.

• China’s economic growth in 2013 expected to reach 8.2 pct

  China’s economic growth in 2013 is expected to reach 8.2 percent, while the achievement of the target involving a higher probability to tip the risk towards bear case than before, an economist of Morgan Stanley said Monday.

  As for one of the most important unanswered questions for 2013 in many people’s mind which is, whether China’s growth recovery this year is sustainable or not, Helen Qiao, chief economist of Greater China of Morgan Stanley, held a view that so far statistics showed that the economy is in a mild recovery.

• China industrial production up 9.3% in April

  Industrial output in China rose 9.3 per cent in April, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Monday, accelerating from March but below market expectations, underscoring sluggish growth momentum.

  The April figure was an improvement on an increase of 8.9 per cent in March but was still slower than a median forecast of 9.5 per cent growth in a poll of nine economists by Dow Jones Newswires.

  Fixed-asset investment — a key measure of government spending — rose 20.6 per cent in the first four months of the year, the NBS said, slightly down from 20.9 per cent in the first quarter.

This list is updated daily, so tune in again tomorrow for more up to date information.