In the first four months, new housing starts stood at 311.84 million-square-meters, down 24.5 percent year-on-year, the NBS said.

The slowdown in the housing market has already affected downstream industries such as cement, iron and steel.

Analysts said tight mortgage conditions are constraining the market. Banks have been raising mortgage rates for first time buyers or holding off on approvals amid tighter liquidity. Banks have also been reacting to their rising exposure to the property sector in 2013.

Questions:

1. What did People’s Bank of China say in an online statement Tuesday?

2. Who is Yin Zhongli ?

3. How much did housing investment grow, year on year, in the first four months of 2017?

Answers:

1. That commercial banks should set mortgage rates at "reasonable" levels and grant housing loans more quickly, especially for first time buyers

2. A financial researcher with the Institute of Finance and Banking at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

3. 16.6 percent.

About the broadcaster:

Anne Ruisi is an editor at China Daily online with more than 30 years of experience as a newspaper editor and reporter. She has worked at newspapers in the U.S., including The Birmingham News in Alabama and City Newspaper of Rochester, N.Y.

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