Beijing's new property sales in February rose 15 percent from the previous month. A total of 9,373 units of second-hand property were sold during the same period, the highest in 13 months, according to official figures from the Beijing Municipal Construction Committee.

To boost demand in the property market, the central government unveiled a series of interest rate cuts and real estate related tax deductions. Most banks in China also followed the government's advice to relax their lending policies on mortgage loans.

China's property market was hard hit by the global economic downturn. Official figures showed that property price in China's 70 major cities in January dropped an average 0.9 percent year-on-year and fell 0.2 percent from the previous month.

(China Daily March 2, 2009)