China to continue home price controls

BEIJING - A senior official on Tuesday to prevent rebounds in property prices in the second half of the year.

We will stabilize control measures to curb speculation and increase housing supplies, especially small- and mid-sized housing, said Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, in a report delivered at an ongoing bimonthly session of the national legislature.

The country's tightened property controls have seen some results, as average home prices in 58 out of a statistical pool of 70 cities dropped in July, Zhang said.

Local government income from the transfer of rights for state-owned land dropped 27.1 percent year on year in the first seven months, according to a separate report given by Minister of Finance Xie Xuren.