Central bank reiterates credit policy stance
The central bank has reiterated its commitment to stick to the "moderately loose" monetary policy that it believes has helped spur economic growth and revive stock and property markets. The bank said yesterday (August 5) in its quarterly report that: "In the period ahead, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) will implement the appropriately loose monetary measures whilst fine-tuning policy with market-oriented tools in line with economic changes at home and abroad". In the same PBOC report, it also said positive economic signs were multiplying, but private investment remained weak, income expectations were subdued and it was hard to be optimistic about exports.

photo from people.com.cn

Property sales in China decline in July 
Property sales across 30 cities in China fell 4% in July. Guangzhou's official property website issued an alarming report stating that property transactions in Guangzhou fell 36% compared to June and 50% compared to May. Qin Xiaomei, the head of Jones Lang LaSalle Beijing, a leading research company said the fall was triggered by high property prices and shrinking supplies in some cities. She added property developers have slowed down the pace of new projects in the second half after strong sales in the first half.

photo from ifeng.com

Foshan to Lower Natural Gas Price to GZ Level
Foshan plans to lower the price of natural gas to line it up with Guangzhou prices. The natural gas supplied to Foshan and Guangzhou come from the same source, but today, one cubic meters of gas costs Foshan citizens 3.85 yuan, whilst Guangzhou citizens only pay 3.45 yuan. During a meeting held between Guangzhou and Foshan's price control bureaus yesterday (August 5), they announced this decision, adding that water, electricity and gas prices will also be unified in the near future. What's more Panyu and Huadu district in Guangzhou, as well as Zengcheng and Conghua will soon be included into the Guangzhou-Foshan annual road ticket scheme.