BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) — Major Chinese cities reported falling home prices in January with narrowing declines, official data showed on Friday.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported that 56 of 70 large and medium-sized cities saw month-on-month drops in new home prices, down from 62 in December 2023. Additionally, 68 such cities registered price declines for second-hand homes, compared to 70 in the previous month.
In the four first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, prices of new homes edged down 0.3 percent in January, with the pace of decline narrowing by 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. Meanwhile, that of resold homes saw its drop taper to 1 percent during the same period.
Home prices in 31 second-tier cities and 35 third-tier cities also generally decreased in January compared to the previous month.
On a year-on-year basis, prices of both new and resold homes in Chinese cities continued a downward trend in January.
- For new homes, first-tier and second-tier cities saw marginal price decreases, and smaller cities reported a 2.1-percent drop. For resold homes, there were also declines across the board, according to the data.
Panasonic starts expansion of SMT machine factory in east China
NANJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) — Panasonic has started its factory expansion project on SMT (surface mount technology) machines in Suzhou City, east China’s Jiangsu Province, said the provincial commerce authorities on Friday.
Founded in 2003 and located in the Suzhou Industrial Park, Panasonic Factory Solutions Suzhou Co., Ltd. (PFSS), which specializes in the development and production of SMT machines, belongs to Panasonic, the Japan-based multinational.
The factory expansion project is expected to cover about 3.54 hectares, doubling the capacity of the Suzhou company and upgrading its products. Relevant building construction will adhere to the design philosophy of energy-saving, eco-friendly and sustainable development, said PFSS.
Panasonic is a world-leading producer of SMT machines, and PFSS is the group’s only development and research (R&D) and production base of such products in China.