IN BRIEF

Property

Housing prices begin to fall

French aircraft maker Dassault Falcon Jet Corp is eyeing China's burgeoning private enterprises as a new business focus. Provided to China Daily

A growing number of Chinese cities experienced a decline in property prices or a slowdown in growth during February.

That's as the government's tightening measures began to take effect, according to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Property prices in eight cities among the 70 surveyed registered a month-on-month decline, compared with three in January. Meanwhile, 44 cities saw the growth rate narrowing on a monthly basis when compared with January figure.

However, as leading property developers enjoyed an outstanding performance last year, a large-scale price drop nationwide is unlikely in the short term, industry analysts said.

Banking

PBOC increases reserve ratios

The People's Bank of China, the central bank, raised the required reserve ratios for banks by 50 basis points on March 18 - the ninth hike since the beginning of 2010 - to control inflation in the world's second-largest economy.

The measure will be effective from March 25, after which the reserve requirement ratio for large commercial banks will be 20 percent. It's estimated that the move will soak up about 350 billion yuan (37.6 billion euros) from the market, said Li Xunlei, chief economist with Guotai Junan Securities.

BNP Paribas China revenue doubles

BNP Paribas, one of the world's six leading banks and the eurozone's largest bank by deposits held, doubled its revenue in China in 2010, said a senior executive on March 22.

Clarence T'ao, chief executive officer of BNP Paribas (China) Ltd, said that the bank expects the growth rate to moderate this year. "The liquidity situation will have an impact on the overall banking environment this year," he said.

At present, commercial banking accounts for about 60 percent of BNP Paribas' total revenue in China, while other products such as interest-rate hedging and bond trading contribute 40 percent, according to T'ao.

Rare earths

Rare earth prices are out of this world

China's export of rare earth metals burst through the $100,000-a-ton (71,018 euros) mark for the first time in February. That's an almost nine-fold increase from a year before, while the volume of trade stayed far below historical averages.

China's quota policy on rare earths, which are used in a wide range of hardware including precision-guided weapons, hybrid car batteries and iPads, has forced prices up dramatically since July last year, when each ton fetched a mere 10,229 euros on average.

The apparent price rises have averaged 7,101 euros monthly for each ton. The price accelerated in February, galloping ahead by 24,143 euros for each ton, according to Reuters calculations based on data from China's Customs office.