Investments in Chinese real estate fell by 11.2% y/y in 1H2025

Investment in Chinese real estate in January-June of this year fell by 11.2% year-on-year (to 4.67 trillion yuan). This was reported by Reuters with reference to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Real estate sales by area in the first half of the year fell by 3.5% y/y. New construction volumes by area decreased by 20% compared to the same period last year.

The amount of funds raised by Chinese developers in January-June decreased by 6.2% year-on-year.

Prime Minister Li Keqiang, Bloomberg notes, promised at a State Council meeting in June to halt the decline in the real estate market. When the country’s top leadership announced a similar goal in September last year, a package of stimulus measures was subsequently adopted.

However, some economists expect Beijing to refrain from significant support measures for now in order to maintain policy flexibility in case of renewed trade tensions with the US.

Preliminary data for June, according to UOB Kay Hian analysts Jie Li and Damon Shen, show a clear trend toward market weakness.

Chinese steel companies increased steel exports by 9.2% in January-June 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, to 58.15 million tons. In June, the country’s metallurgists shipped 9.68 million tons of steel for export, which is 8.5% less than in May.

At the same time, steel imports to the Chinese market during the first half of the year decreased by 16.4% y/y – to 3.023 million tons.