Xi in Nanning; Shanghai and Beijing real estate tweaks; More Hong Kong bounties; Sim Love
Holiday schedule: I am on the road next week, there will not be the normal daily newsletter every day. There will at least be an episode of Sharp China and a fun guest post.
Summary of today’s top items:
Xi visits Nanning - Xi stopped off in Nanning, Guangxi on his return from Vietnam. The full propaganda package is not out yet, but from the initial reports the themes include “economic and trade cooperation between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the development and application of informatization, the improvement of urban community governance system and strengthening ethnic unity”.
Beijing and Shanghai try to simulate home sales - Both cities reduced the minimum down payment for first and and second-home buyers. Neither city relaxed housing purchase restrictions, which would be a very significant policy adjustment. As Caixin wrote in a story about the moves in Beijing and Shanghai “Lifting purchase restrictions in first-tier cities has always been considere…