Property transactions in China’s largest cities have fallen to dangerously low levels, according to regulatory documents obtained by the Financial Times.
According to the documents, earlier this year the China Banking Regulatory Commission ordered domestic banks to weigh the impact of a 30 per cent decline in housing transactions in “stress tests” aimed at determining the health of the Chinese financial system.
While Beijing has been trying to rein in sky-high property prices, a China property slump would have a big ripple effect on the global economy. Construction of property accounted for more than 13 per cent of China’s economy last year.