Land sales in 10 major cities reach 16-month high

China’s money-market rate touched its lowest level in almost two weeks on Wednesday, on speculation a decline in the redemption of reverse-repurchase contracts will increase the cash supply. Some 253 billion yuan ($41 billion) of reverse-repo agreements will mature this week, compared with 269 billion yuan last week, according to data from China Merchants Bank Co. “The seven-day repo is falling because the redemption of reverse repos is declining and the month-end effect is totally over,” said Liu Junyu, a Shenzhen-based bond analyst at China Merchants Bank, the nation’s sixth-biggest lender. will invest 110 billion yuan ($16.1 billion) in the new facility, Cheng said. Land sales in China’s 10 major cities hit a 16-month high of 66.3 billion yuan ($10.6 billion) in November, a growth of 23 percent month-on-month and 0.4 percent year-on-year, according to a report from Shanghai E-house China R&D Institute. In the 10 cities, which include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, the average home price grew 18 percent in November to 2,580 yuan per square meter from a month ago. Rising transaction volumes and home prices have shown the domestic property market is speeding up its recovery, said Wu Xiaojun, an analyst from E-house (China) Holding Ltd. on Wednesday. “The closing were part of the company’s business adjustment, which was caused by the poor efficiency of the outlets.” Earlier this year, the Japanese retail giant said it would bring its franchise model to the Beijing market, which industry experts said will pave the way for the worldleading retailer to speed up its efforts to expand in the city. ZTE Corp, China’s second-largest telecom equipment maker, has had its $20 billion credit line extended by China Development Bank Corp to help fund overseas projects. The five-year facility covers loans and financing such as guarantees, bills and letters of credit, according to a company filing on Tuesday. The line is in addition to a $15 billion facility received in 2009 from CDB, ZTE spokeswoman Jiang Tao said. Vale SA, the world’s second-largest mining company by market value, will cut its investments by $1.2 billion in 2013, its lowest level in three years, due to China’s shrinking iron ore demand. The Brazilian iron ore giant said it will spend $16.3 billion in 2013, including $15.2 billion on existing and new projects and $1.1 billion on research and development. The company invested $17.5 billion in 2012 and $18 billion in 2011. The company said its record investment in 2011 will remain the highest in the coming years. China is Brazil’s largest iron ore market.