China sold houses with a combined floor space of 86.72 million sq m in the first half of the year, arise of 37.4 percent year on year, according to the National Statistics Bureau (NSB).

According to the NSB on Thursday, 74.06 million sq m, or 95.7 percent, of the houses were bought by individuals, up 44.7 percent over last year's same period.

The first six months' sales topped 210.2 billion yuan (US$25.4 billion), a year-on-year increase of 44.8 percent.

The NSB said that China spent 381.6 billion yuan (US$46.14 billion) on real estate development in the period, a rise of 34percent. Investment in residential house construction accounted for 258.6 billion yuan (US$31.27 billion), up 28 percent year on year.

In the six-month period, houses with a combined floor space of 775.82 million sq m were under construction, 604.11 million sq m of which were residential. The two figures represent a surge of 27.9 percent and 28.4 percent respectively.

(Xinhua News Agency July 24, 2003)