China is expected to announce new measures to fix its property crisis, spur growth

By ELAINE KURTENBACH
AP Business Writer

China is expected to announce fresh measures to reinvigorate its ailing property industry after the latest data showed housing prices slumped in April. Other figures reported Friday showed factory output rose but consumer spending remained lackluster. China’s housing market has slumped after a crackdown on excessive borrowing by property developers, dragging on a wide range of other businesses and slowing growth in the world’s No. 2 economy. The government has cut interest rates and freed up billions of dollars of financing to help financially struggling developers to deliver housing already promised and paid for. Some local governments are buying apartments that are going unsold due to weak demand, with plans to rent them out as affordable housing.