Shanghai Developer Stocks End Losing Streak on Policy Hopes – and more of Today’s China Real Estate Links | July 8, 2013

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

• Shanghai Developer Stocks End Losing Streak on Policy Hopes

  SHANGHAI stocks ticked up yesterday as homebuilders soared on reports that China may lift the financing barrier on the real estate sector. The Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.05 percent to 2,007.2 points. The index ended the week with a 1.41 percent gain, snapping a four-week losing streak.

  Property stocks led the market gains after the Oriental Morning Post cited an unnamed investment banker as saying that the China Securities Regulatory Commission may relax its restrictions on financing by homebuilders after a nearly three-year ban.”

• Carlyle-backed New Century REIT raises $112m in low-ball IPO

  Carlyle-backed New Century Real Estate Investment Trust has raised HK$676 million (S$112 million) from a trimmed Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO), after pricing the float at the bottom of the indicative range, IFR reported on Friday.
  The company, owner of four five-star hotels in mainland China, slashed the size of its offering by 66 per cent amid volatile market conditions, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters publication.

• China signals will cut off credit to rebalance economy

  China said on Friday it would cut off credit to force consolidation in industries plagued by overcapacity as it seeks to end the economy’s dependence on extravagant investment funded by cheap debt.

  In a statement from the State Council, or cabinet, Beijing laid out broad plans to ensure banks support the kind of economic rebalancing China’s new leadership wants as it looks to focus more on high-end manufacturing.

• China Names New Head of $482 bil CIC Sovereign Fund

  China appointed Ding Xuedong, a deputy secretary-general of the State Council, as head of the nation’s sovereign wealth fund at a time when the prospect of the Federal Reserve reducing stimulus has roiled global markets.
  Ding succeeds Lou Jiwei, who became finance minister more than three months ago, as chairman of China Investment Corp., the Beijing-based company said on its website yesterday. The appointment ends speculation since March on who would take the helm at the $482 billion fund.

• Singapore’s Temasek Holdings bullish on China portfolio

  China has nothing to fear from Temasek Holdings Pte, the largest foreign investor in Chinese banks, which said today it is not fazed by a recent cash crunch brought on by the central bank.

  In a statement, Temasek Holdings said it was actually looking to increase its holdings in China rather than shrinking it.

  “There is sufficient liquidity in the system over a prolonged period,” Chia Song Hwee, head of the investment group, said at a briefing in Singapore yesterday.

• China admits local govt debt levels unknown

  A senior Chinese official said on Friday that the government did not know precisely know how much debt local governments had built up and warned that it could be more than previous estimates.

  Estimates of local government debt range from Standard Chartered’s 15 percent of the country’s GDP at end-2012 to Credit Suisse’s 36 percent. Fitch put the figure at 25 percent when it downgraded China’s sovereign debt rating in April.

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