STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOSBEIJING - China's cabinet on Friday approved guidelines for planning and construction of affordable housing at a meeting chaired by Premier Li Qiang, state media Xinhua news agency reported.
The guidelines will help improve people's livelihoods, expand effective investment and promote the stable and healthy development of the property market, Xinhua said, citing the cabinet meeting.Beijing has been pushing more affordable housing in recent years as runaway home prices in major cities shut out many young buyers - a plan that has assumed greater significance in the wake of the debt crisis in the property sector and weakening economic growth.
However, with the property downturn, official data showed new home prices fell in July for the first time this year, underlining an urgency for bolder policy support. China's housing market has over the past two years been grappling with a severe debt crisis - initially triggered by government moves to rein in ballooning debt.