Please buy houses and bail China out of realty recession: Officials to cadres

Communist Party officials in Hunan province are pleading the party members and workers to buy property more and more as according to them will rescue China from real estate recession.

Deng Bibo, Secretary of the Shimen County Party Committee, on August 16, said he hoped the leaders would take the lead in buying houses, local media reported.

Deng Bibo was speaking in the 2022 real estate exhibition and trade fair in Changde City, Hunan, China.


His speech quickly spread on social media and become talk of the town.

"All the comrades, leaders we should take the lead in purchasing houses. If you have bought one, buy two, if you have bought two, buy three and if you have bought three, buy four," he said.

This speech though has inadvertently raised many questions.

Firstly, public call to buy multiple apartments mean CPC officials remain rich even after the anti-corruption campaign and Mr Deng does not think that officials' hidden income will be a problem at all.

Secondly, China's real estate market has evidently collapsed.

It is noted that Chinese homebuyers across the country are refusing to repay loans on their unfinished apartments.

It also shows that China's economy is in a bad shape and Chinese homeowners are boycotting mortgage payments.

ANZ Research estimates that the boycotts could affect about USD 222 billion of home loans sitting on bank balance sheets, or roughly 4 per cent of outstanding mortgages.

China's economy is witnessing slowest growth in decades, factory output is getting low and spending is also less and last but not the least, youth unemployment had reached a record high.

What this will mean for President Xi Jinping, who is expecting a third term as party president, only time will tell.