Property market 'will not collapse'

Potential homebuyers examine a property project model in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Feb 28, 2016.[Photo/VCG]

Chinese billionaire and real estate tycoon Wang Jianlin said China's real estate market has bubbles but will not collapse, underlining that people migrating to cities will support demand and recent government moves to squeeze bubbles are taking effect.

Wang, chairman of the property-to-entertainment conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, made the remarks in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Wang has previously said that China was seeing the "biggest bubble in history", saying that surging housing prices in major cities such as Shanghai and falling residential prices in lower-tier cities are bringing about a divergence in China's housing market.

Wang said Wanda has diversified its investment portfolio to meet surging demand for recreation, including cinema and sports.

He said the group wants to own 20 percent of all cinemas in the world within 10 years, but did not disclose more details on how it would achieve this goal.

Wanda has been acquiring cinema chain, studio and production firms in a bid to integrate resources to strengthen Wanda's global position in the value chain of the movie industry, said Wang at a meeting in Shanghai in mid-November.

Wang, in response to a question raised by Forbes about what he thought of fellow property tycoon Donald Trump, he said Trump's presidency could be positive for the economy.

"Can a businessman be better than a career politician? We have to give him a chance," he said.

Wang said, as a keen fan of soccer, he believes that the booming sports industry will see great opportunities for growth in China.

Data showed that China's real estate investment growth quickened in October to its most rapid pace since April 2014, suggesting that property developers have yet to feel any notable pressure from recent measures to curb speculative home purchases and investments have been more diversified.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, investment in real estate in eastern China between January and October 2016 grew to 4.64 trillion yuan ($674.2 billion), 5 percent year-on-year growth, with Tianjin and Guangdong growing the fastest, at more than 20 percent year-on-year.

Reuters contributed to this story.