China house prices decline further as curbs take effect
   （从FT中文网每日英语版块搬来一篇文章，双语阅读，有翻译http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001043713/ce。）
    Home prices in nearly two-thirds of China’s big cities fell in February from the previous month, as measures taken to tame the property market continue to have an impact.

    Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday 45 out of 70 large and midsized cities tracked by the government saw a fall in new home prices month on month in February. The previous month, prices fell in 48 cities. Prices in a further 21 cities were stable and just four cities experienced price rises, it added. On a year-on-year basis, 27 cities saw new home price declines in February, up from 15 in January.

   The news came after Premier Wen Jiabao’s warning last week that property prices remained at far from reasonable levels. He urged the government to sustain efforts to regulate the sector.

   Relaxing curbs could cause “chaos” in the market, Mr Wen said. Beijing has introduced measures to curb runaway property prices over the past year, including restrictions on second homes, increasing minimum downpayment requirements, and introducing property taxes.

   Lower home prices have contributed to concerns about an economic slowdown in China, which is already forecast to slow this year from 9.2 per cent growth in 2011. But the government was unlikely to relax measures to cool the market despite those fears, property analysts said.

   Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, yesterday called on China to change its growth model, in light of weak global economic conditions. Speaking in Beijing, she praised China for bringing down its current account surplus to less than 3 per cent of gross domestic product from over 10 per cent in 2007.

   But she added: “The global context reinforces the importance of China continuing to forge ahead – by maintaining a prominent role in global policy discussions and by sustaining efforts to accelerate the transformation of the Chinese economy.”