Banks pull out of IMF Tokyo meetings

    CHINA’S State-owned banks would not attend the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank to be held in Tokyo starting Tuesday, Xinhua News Agency said Monday, the latest sign that a territorial dispute has strained ties between Asia’s two biggest economies.

    The four Chinese lenders that have pulled out of International Monetary Fund-related events are the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China , China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China, Xinhua said.

    5b yuan added to public housing spend

    THE government will add 5 billion yuan (US$795.56 million) of funding to help build public housing projects and revamp shanty towns, the Ministry of Finance said Monday.

    The move is the latest sign of renewed Central Government efforts to use fiscal spending to underpin economic growth. The government has allocated a total of 98.7 billion yuan so far this year to subsidize public housing construction and shanty town improvements, the ministry added.

    Home prices rise for 4th month in Sept.

    AVERAGE home prices in China’s 100 big cities edged up for a fourth straight month in September, a private survey showed, reinforcing signs of a mild recovery as the government seeks to boost growth while avoiding a real estate bubble.

    Average home prices rose 0.17 percent to 8,753 yuan (US$1,400) per square meter in September, moderating from August’s month-on-month increase of 0.24 percent, the China Real Estate Index System (CREIS) said yesterday. A steady rise in home prices will, however, renew concerns about property inflation that could prompt the government to further tighten property controls in the run-up to a once-a-decade leadership transition this year.

    Air China suspends A-share trading

    SHARES of Air China Ltd. were suspended from trading on the Shanghai Stock Exchange because of a private placement from yesterday, the company said in a statement.

    The State-run carrier said it will announce the details of the private placement Oct. 16 and will resume trading on that day. Shares of Air China ended down 0.2 percent at 4.97 yuan (US$0.79) Monday.