Chinese banks May lending to fall as stimulus package winds down: report
Lending by Chinese banks may drop to 600 billion yuan (88 billion U.S. dollars) in May as the central government winds down its stimulus program and cools the property market to prevent the economy from overheating, the Shanghai Securities News reported Friday.
A fall in bank lending in May is expected after the government introduced a raft of measures to curb the skyrocketing property market in April. The measures included a ban on lending for third home purchases and increased scrutiny of developers' financing, the report said.
Lu Zhengwei, an economist at Industrial Bank, estimates Chinese banks' May lending will be 450 billion yuan to 650 billion yuan, compared with 774 billion yuan in April.
"China has asked banks to strictly control lending to industries with overcapacity and to stop lending to new projects not in the 4-trillion-yuan stimulus package. These will be major reasons for a drop off in May lending," he said.
China's banks lent 3.37 trillion yuan in the first four months of the year, about 45 percent of the government's full-year 7.5-trillion-yuan lending target.
The National Bureau of Statistics is due to release major economic data for May, including new bank lending, mid-June.
China housing market a bubble; govt policies able to reduce potential damage: economist
China's booming housing market is a bubble, evidenced by a series of statistics and the actions the central government is taking, an economist said here Saturday.
"A series of indicators - including ratios of housing prices to people's income, to rent, and to construction cost - all point to a bubble in the housing market," said Yao Shujie, head of the School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Nottingham.
The nationwide average ratio of housing price to household income in China was 9.1 in 2009, compared with 4.74 for the UK and 3.09 for the US, said Yao, citing statistics from a research on China's property market he conducted in 2009.
The research also shows the nationwide ratio rose to 11.15 for the first two months of 2010 and in some major cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, registered over 20.
Last week, Chinese real estate services company E-House China released similar figures -- China's nationwide average ratio of house price to income was 8.03 in 2009 but those in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Shenzhen were over 14.
In addition, the relationship between the house selling price index and the cost of renting index index is widening at an accelerated pace, as is the sale price versus cost of construction ratio, according to Yao's research.
Property prices in 70 cities rose in April by an average of 12.8 percent from a year earlier, higher than the annual 11.7 percent increase in March and the fastest pace since the National Bureau of Statistics began to compile monthly figures in July 2005.
"Surging house prices are driven by the supply push as well the demand pull," Yao said, adding that a strong urbanization trend, rising household income, demographic changes, a dearth of investment channels, and Chinese people's deep cultural imperative to buying one's own house has resulted in the growing demand.
On the supply side, local governments' intentions to reap revenues from land sales, developers' hoarding, government's lack of investment in housing, and excessive bank lending to developers have also helped push up prices, he noted.
The government needs to address the problem from both sides, and a slew of measures introduced in recent months, including raising down payments and mortgage rates for second homes, will likely have a bigger impact on in coming months, he said.
"Government policies are heading in the right direction, but the bubble can only burst naturally as a result of the collective action of house buyers, property developers, bankers and government officials. And government intervention can reduce the any damage caused by the deflating of the bubble," he said.
Yao suggested the government make real efforts to build more public housing, guide developers to build more small houses, and start collecting property taxes.
Turkey beat China to meet Australia in Stankovic Cup final
Turkey outplayed China 81-79 at overtime on Sunday and will meet Australia in the final of the 5th FIBA Stankovic Basketball Continental Cup for Men, in Kunshan, China's Jiangsu province.
The unbeaten Australians, who came back to edge out China in the preliminary competition Saturday, beat defending champion Angola 70-60 early Sunday.
China could have finished the game with a win but Liu Wei missed two of free throws before Turkey's Sonkol Umit tied the scoring 69-69 to force the game into overtime.
The host still led 79-76 with less than one minute left but Turkey leveled it through Yapar Hakan behind the arc. Then Akpinar Mutlu scored a 5 meters shot at the last second to clinch the victory.
China trailed by two points in the first quarter, marred by 4-for-14 poor field goal. Zhang Qingpeng, off the bench, led the Chinese to an 11-4 run, helping the host up to a 25-20 lead. Zhang scored seven consecutive points including a 3-pointer during that span.
Leading 35-30 at halftime, China kept the advantage narrowly, which was trimmed to two points before Sun Yue hit a 3-pointer to finish the third period.
China pulled away to 63-54, the biggest lead in the game, thanks to Zhou Peng's 3-pointers. But Turkey trimmed the deficit to one with a 10-2 run with 2:50 minutes to play in the fourth quarter.
Zhang Qingpeng's lay-up and Wang Zhizhi's two free-throws extend China's lead to 69-64 with one minute remaining. Then the opponent team scored two on the official line. The missed free throws by Liu Wei gave Turkey the chance of coming back.
Cakanya Yunus led Turkey with a game-high 23 points while young player Zhou Peng was China's top scorer with 16 points.
Earlier, Australia managed to avoid the fate of defeat. The winless Angola led at halftime, 31-29, and remained ahead after the third period, 46-48. However Australia used a tightened defense and strong rebounds to regain their powerful offense in the final period.
Angola will play against China for third place while Australia and Turkey meet for the title on Monday.
father
Who is using the hard-working hands, happy for us to build a home?
Are you, father, a great name but Ordinary!
Father of a mountain, broad-minded, the father of rivers to accommodate an umbrella for us so that we stay away from disaster
Father of a vessel, carrying us, brave the wind and waves, love towards the Harbor!
In the eyes of his daughter, the father is more like you are leaning against a tree in spring can love you like fantasy Ganlu drop, moisten with my heart;
Through the summer to enjoy your love, like bursts of breeze, the wind blowing softly beside him;
Taught me to become ripe autumn, your love is to me is that the rich fruits of success
Taught me to become a strong winter, you love the sun are continuously given me confidence and strength!
Spring, summer, autumn and winter, the sun traces of rotation time, quietly climbed up the wind and rain on your face honed, so that you can not forget the vicissitudes of war, you can not forget the scene earnest instructions, you sent her daughter to ride back to school is not to be forgotten, his daughter Late when your eyes can not forget the sad, sick daughter face up when you forget the worries of the scenes, the father and daughter is not to be forgotten ... ... If the situation can be life-cycle the next life, I also make your daughter! 文章来自yingyu6.com
At this moment I just want to hear you say: Father, I love you! This is the voice of a daughter, the father of the world to wish his mother in good health!
mother’s hand
Night after night, she came to tuck me in, even long after my childhood years. Following her longstanding custom, she'd lean down and push my long hair out of the way, then kiss my forehead.
I don't remember when it first started annoying me — her hands pushing my hair that way. But it did annoy me, for they felt work-worn and rough against my young skin. Finally, one night, I shouted out at her, "Don't do that anymore —your hands are too rough!" She didn't say anything in reply. But never again did my mother close out my day with that familiar expression of her love.
Time after time, with the passing years, my thoughts returned to that night. By then I missed my mother's hands, missed her goodnight kiss on my forehead. Sometimes the incident seemed very close, sometimes far away. But always it lurked, in the back of my mind.
Well, the years have passed, and I'm not a little girl anymore. Mom is in her mid-seventies, and those hands I once thought to be so rough are still doing things for me and my family. She's been our doctor, reaching into a medicine cabinet for the remedy to calm a young girl's stomach or soothe the boy's scraped knee. She cooks the best fried chicken in the world... gets stains out of blue jeans like I never could...
Now, my own children are grown and gone. Mom no longer has Dad, and on special occasions, I find myself drawn next door to spend the night with her. So it was late on Thanksgiving Eve, as I slept in the bedroom of my youth, a familiar hand hesitantly run across my face to brush the hair from my forehead. Then a kiss, ever so gently, touched my brow.
In my memory, for the thousandth time, I recalled the night my young voice complained, "Don't do that anymore — your hands are too rough!" Catching Mom's hand in hand, I blurted out how sorry I was for that night. I thought she'd remember, as I did. But Mom didn't know what I was talking about. She had forgotten — and forgiven — long ago.
That night, I fell asleep with a new appreciation for my gentle mother and her caring hands. And the guilt that I had carried around for so long was nowhere to be found.