China Drafts List of Developers Eligible for Funding, Asks Banks to Boost Real Estate Lending

Chinese regulators tell lenders to meet minimum thresholds for real estate lending; banks pressed to lend to private developers along with state-owned firms; housing sales continue to slide

A housing project under construction in Huaian, Jiangsu province, on Nov. 17, 2023

Chinese regulators are pressing banks to step up lending and ease financing for developers as part of efforts to boost the ailing property sector.

At a meeting with China’s most important financial institutions last Friday, regulators brought up three new requirements for banks’ real estate loans to developers and homebuyers, people from several state-owned large banks attending the meeting told Caixin.

The banks were told to keep their real estate loan growth at a level no lower than the banking sector’s average real estate loan growth, loan growth to non-state-owned developers no lower than each bank’s real estate loan growth, and mortgage growth to individuals buying housing from non-state-owned developers no lower than each bank’s mortgage growth, the people said.