THERE were no findings showing business loans supporting small and medium-enterprises (SMEs) in the city had been illegally channeled to the property market, according to a preliminary investigation report released by People’s Bank of China (PBC) Shenzhen Branch on Wednesday.

PBC Shenzhen Branch issued an internal notice Monday, asking local banks to report the outstanding amount of business loans collateralized with real estate by the end of March, compared to the outstanding amount at the end of last December and the end of March 2019.

The move was made following some online reports that such loans had been illegally channeled into the housing market to drive up housing prices.

In the announcement, PBC Shenzhen Branch said it has asked commercial banks to consider: authenticity of the borrowers’ operating conditions, if they had owned properties used as collateral for the loans for more than six months, tighter monitoring of the funds, and if these borrowers had bought new properties after they obtained loans since Jan. 25, the time the coronavirus crisis intensified.

The Shenzhen Bureau of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said in its announcement that it had required banks to tighten screenings of borrowers, restrict loans to companies without operations and conduct self-examination and supervision over credit management.

Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the city has decided to offer a six-month subsidy up to 50 percent of the loans that SMEs acquired from banks between Feb. 1 and April 30. Shenzhen Municipal Service Bureau for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises said the loans have not been given out and it was unlikely to have been used by borrowers in the housing market, despite online rumor.

The Municipal Housing and Construction Bureau said online reports were untrue that pre-owned housing prices had increased by 9.7 percent in Q1. They added that the housing price hikes in places like Nanshan and Bao’an districts did not reflect the overall Shenzhen market.

The prices of new apartments and pre-owned apartments in Q1 increased by 1 percent and 2.8 percent, respectively, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The city’s housing bureau said it would take serious measures against illegal price hikes.

China has adopted a policy that “houses are not for speculation,” while ensuring its healthy development.

The Shenzhen Municipal Market Supervision and Regulation Bureau said that it will punish any illegal advertisements and pricing as well as any behaviors that violate the consumers’ rights in the real estate industry, following the state’s regulations.  

(Han Ximin)