国内英语新闻:Chinese vice premier says housing market regulation to continue

BEIJING, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang said Friday that the government would continue to regulate the housing market and resolutely crack down on speculative property investment and other unreasonable market demands.

He said the government would continue to increase the supply of affordable housing for low-income families in order to consolidate the effects of the regulation over the past months.

He pledged to ensure healthy development of the real estate industry and improve people's living conditions.

Inspecting a low-rent housing site in Beijing, Li urged the municipal government to offer preferential policies in the areas of investment, land, and taxation to quicken the construction of affordable housing.

He said that the affordable housing program should be transparent and fair in order to allow mid-and-low income residents to benefit.

In the face of skyrocketing housing prices, the Chinese government has ordered a stringent credit policy to restrict speculative purchases and has increased spending to build affordable housing.

Housing prices in major Chinese cities rose 10.3 percent year-on-year in July, slower than the 11.4 percent growth in June, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Tuesday.