—saw their net worth gain a combined $3.6 billion in just a few hours, after the country’s regulators took a surprising turn and unveiled a comprehensive package of measures aimed at supporting the ailing property industry.
To ensure the “stable and healthy development” of the real estate market, authorities including the country’s central bank, the People’s Bank of China, as well as the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission , issued on Friday a 16-point document that included steps to boost lending and liquidity,Screenshots of the document are also available online, showing that regulators encouraged banks to meet the “reasonable” financing needs of developers with sound corporate governance, allow...
“We view this as the most crucial pivot since Beijing significantly tightened financing of the property sector,” Nomura economists led by Lu Ting wrote in a research note on Monday. “Thus, those cash-strapped developers , construction companies, mortgage borrowers and other related stakeholders can now breathe a sigh of relief.”
Shares of several major real estate companies soared in response, with billionaire Yang Huiyan’s Hong Kong-listed Country Garden jumping 40.6% as of Monday noon, and fellow billionaire Wu Yajun’s Longfor Group, also listed in Hong Kong, surging 22.8%. Yang’s subsequent $2.4 billion increase in wealth and Wu’s $1.