China says it will improve home sales in 'forceful', 'orderly' way

BEIJING, March 9 (Reuters) - China will improve home sales in a "forceful" and "orderly" way, Minister of Housing and Urban-Rural Development Ni Hong said on Saturday, as weak demand in the country's beleaguered residential property market persists.

The property sector has lurched from one crisis to another since 2021 after a regulatory crackdown on high leverage among developers triggered a liquidity crisis among real estate firms and crushed home-buying sentiment.

Chinese developers including real estate giants China Evergrande Group and Country Garden have defaulted on their debts, many housing projects across China have been left unfinished, and angry buyers who have already paid for their homes have clamoured for official action.

Some developers should be allowed to go bankrupt or restructured according to legal and market-based rules, Ni said told a press conference on the sidelines of the annual meeting of parliament in Beijing.

Premier Li Qiang said this week that China will quicken the development of "a new model" for the troubled sector, focussing on building more affordable housing and meeting demand for homes.

But China will insist that "housing is for living in, not for speculation" when formulating a new development model for the sector, Ni said, reiterating an official line against property speculation. (Reporting by Ellen Zhang, Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sam Holmes and William Mallard)