Vanke retains edge in real estate sales

Real estate developer China Vanke reported rising sales in July, according to a company statement filed to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday. The company posted a 26.9-percent year-on-year increase of property sales on contracts, which reached 45.14 billion yuan ($6.6 billion) in July. Sales in terms of area stood at 3.07 million square meters last month, the statement said. In the January-July period, the company sold 23.42 million square meters of real estate on contracts. The value of sales rose 11.85 percent year-on-year to 349.8 billion yuan.