Steady credit expansion objective for real estate industry, platform economy

China is expected to ramp up financial support to promote steady development of the real estate sector and the platform economy in the coming months as part of efforts to prop up credit expansion, experts said on Tuesday.

At a meeting on Monday chaired by Yi Gang, governor of the People's Bank of China, large State-owned banks were asked to take the lead in maintaining stable loan growth to solidify the country's economic recovery, the central bank said in a statement after the meeting.

Lenders should guarantee that reasonable financing demand in the property sector is satisfied and beef up financial support for key areas of the platform economy in accordance with laws and regulations, it said.

The meeting also called on commercial banks to boost lending to the real economy and step up credit support for small and micro businesses, green development and technological innovation.

"The meeting has delivered two key policy signals. The first is to maintain stable aggregate credit expansion and the second is to ramp up financial support for the real estate sector and platform economy," said Yang Haiping, a researcher at the Central University of Finance and Economics' Institute of Securities and Futures.

"Stabilizing the macroeconomic condition requires stable performance of the real estate sector and the platform economy," Yang said.

Credit demand has cooled as China's increment in aggregate social financing－the total amount of financing to the real economy－stood at 756.1 billion yuan ($110.84 billion) last month, down by 319.1 billion yuan year-on-year, the central bank said.

Specifically, the increment in mid-to long-term loans to households stood at 148.6 billion yuan in July, down sharply from 397.4 billion yuan a year ago, reflecting the slowdown in mortgage issuances amid a weakening housing market.

The country has stepped up efforts to shore up credit demand, including in the property sector. On Monday, China's over-five-year loan prime rate and one-year LPR dropped by 15 basis points and 5 basis points, respectively, reducing homebuying costs and financial burdens on businesses.

Yang said the country's credit expansion is expected to rally in the second half as LPR reductions boost credit demand while policy-based financial instruments and structural monetary tools further take effect.

The PBOC statement asked policy banks to make good use of policy-based and development-oriented financial instruments to beef up support for infrastructure projects in areas such as industrial upgrading, agriculture and national security, and bring about physical construction work as soon as possible.

Yao Hong, vice-president of Postal Savings Bank of China, said the large State-owned commercial lender will ramp up credit support for housing demand among newcomers to cities while adhering to the principle that "houses are for living in, not for speculation".

Ye Yindan, a researcher at the Bank of China Research Institute, said credit expansion related to the real estate sector is expected to improve in the second half thanks to policy support, with the liquidity strain facing the sector likely to gradually ease.

Ye added that facilitating the financing of key areas in the platform economy will help further bring into play the sector's positive role in spurring employment and consumption, elevating the efficiency of traditional industries and boosting the country's digital transformation.