中國去年新增房地產開發用地減少25%

The amount of land used for new property developments in China fell more than 25 per cent last year, reflecting sluggish demand that could exacerbate local governments’ debt burdens.

中國去年新增房地產開發用地數量下降了逾25%，這反映出需求疲軟，進而可能加劇地方政府的債務負擔。

Citing data from the ministry of land and resources, the official Xinhua news agency reported that 151,000 hectares had been allocated for new real estate, down more than a quarter from 2013.

官方的新華社援引中國國土資源部的數據，報道說，2014年15.1萬公頃土地被用於新的房地產開發，同比下降超過四分之一。

China’s property sector is a key contributor to overall investment, which accounts for about half of the country’s gross domestic product and feeds demand for commodities.

中國的房地產業是總投資的關鍵推動者，投資佔中國國內生產總值(GDP)的大約一半，並推動對大宗商品的需求。

While urban home prices in China have fallen for nine months, the full impact of the correction has yet to hit the broader economy and will probably cause a lot more pain when it does. Property investment increased more than 10 per cent last year to Rmb9.5tn ($1.5tn), according to the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with an 8 per cent fall in sales as measured by gross floor area.

雖然中國城市房價已連續9個月下跌，但這一價格回落的全面影響尚未衝擊整體經濟，一旦這種衝擊到來，很可能會導致更多陣痛。中國國家統計局的數據顯示，去年房地產投資增加了超過10%，至9.5萬億元人民幣（合1.5萬億美元），而總建築面積的銷量卻下跌了8%。

Property sales in big cities in the week before the Chinese new year holiday, which officially began on February 18, fell by about 20 per cent from the corresponding week a year earlier.

中國農曆新年假期（正式開始於2月18日）前一週，大城市房地產銷售比去年同期下降了約20%。

Power production and sales of cars and consumer items such as fridges and washing machines also fell from the same period last year in the run-up to the country’s most important national holiday, according to a report from Haitong Securities, the Chinese brokerage.

中國券商海通證券(Haitong Securities)的一份報告稱，中國最重要的全國假期前夕，發電量以及汽車和消費者產品（如冰箱和洗衣機等）的銷售也比去年同期有所下滑。

With consumer price inflation expected to come in at less than 1 per cent in February, after an increase of just 0.8 per cent in January, a growing number of analysts are calling for Beijing to cut interest rates again to boost growth. “The time is now ripe for another cut,” Haitong said.

鑑於2月份消費價格指數(CPI)漲幅預計將低於1%（1月份僅上漲0.8%），越來越多的分析師呼籲中國政府再次降息以刺激經濟增長。“再次降息的時機已經成熟，”海通證券稱。

In November China cut benchmark interest rates for the first time in more than two years in the face of the country’s weakest annual growth in nearly a quarter of a century.

面對近25年來最低速的年度經濟增長，去年11月中國在兩年多來首次下調了基準利率。

Already indebted local governments rely heavily on land sales for revenue. According to the latest estimate from China’s national auditor, local government debts stood at Rmb18tn as of June 2013.

債臺高築的地方政府本已嚴重依賴土地出讓獲得財政收入。中國國家審計署最近的數據顯示，截至2013年6月，地方政府債務達18萬億元人民幣。

Since then only one provincial government has revealed updated debt figures. Hainan said that local debt had increased by more than 20 per cent in the 18 months to last December, reaching Rmb170bn, according to Caixin magazine. This included Rmb145bn in direct debts, with guarantees or contingent liabilities accounting for the rest.

自那以來，只有一個省級政府公佈了更新的債務數據。據《財新》(Caixin)雜誌報道，海南省政府稱，該省地方債務在截至去年12月的18個月內增長逾20%，達到1700億元人民幣。這包括1450億元人民幣的直接債務，其餘是債務擔保和或有債務。

The rest of China’s 30 provinces are supposed to report updated debt figures to the finance ministry by March 8. The ministry wants to rein in local government borrowing through special purpose financing vehicles and instead raise funds by selling bonds.

中國其它30個省級行政區應該在3月8日之前向財政部報告更新的債務數據。財政部希望遏制地方政府通過特殊目的融資工具的借貸行爲，轉向通過發債籌集資金。

Despite their financial squeeze, provincial governments have pledged to increase fixed asset investment this year to bolster growth. Hunan, Hubei and Shaanxi provinces recently revealed plans to invest a combined Rmb6bn in infrastructure and other fixed assets in 2015, a 20 per cent increase over last year.

儘管財政困難，但一些省級政府已承諾，今年將增加固定資產投資以支撐增長。湖南、湖北和陝西最近出臺計劃，擬在2015年在基礎設施和其它固定資產上投資共計60億元人民幣，比去年增加20%。