(Yicai) March 5 -- China has recalibrated its policy stance toward the country’s embattled property sector this year, shifting the emphasis from halting the market’s slide and restoring stability to a focus on stabilizing it.

This year’s Government Work Report uses the wording “focusing on stabilizing the real estate market,” replacing last year’s language of “continuously exerting efforts to push the real estate market to stop falling and stabilize.” The formulation is consistent with guidance set at the Central Economic Work Conference in December.

Premier Li Qing delivered the key policy document at the opening of the annual National People's Congress, China’s legislature, in Beijing today. The Government Work Report also revealed major development targets for the five years through 2030.

The policy shift signals a move away from clearing existing risks and ensuring project delivery to a new phase guided by the principles of “good housing and new models,” said Yan Yuejin, deputy director of Shanghai-based E-House China Research and Development Institute.

In cities with growing populations, “good housing” should focus on enhancing quality and the use of smart construction, Yan said. In cities with population outflows, there should be an effort to revive demand through improving the quality of life and offering more ecological and higher-standard residential projects.

China’s new housing stock remains significant, according to new research from the China Index Academy. The think tank said that controlling new land supply and accelerating the clearing of existing housing inventory will be key tools for improving the supply-demand balance and stabilizing market expectations.

Residential land transactions in 300 major cities nationwide continue to decline, falling about 30 percent in the first two months 2026 from a year earlier, per the academy’s figures., and this year there will be a focus on less quantity but more quality. It expects the trend of “lower volume but higher quality” in the supply of residential land to characterize this year also.

On inventory reduction, the Government Work Report says “multiple channels should be explored to revitalize existing housing,” and mentions the possible acquisition of existing properties for “use as affordable housing.”

Inventory reduction will involve both newly built and resale homes, according to the China Index Academy. The work report’s encouragement to purchase existing properties suggests that the process may be largely driven by local governments, and that acquiring pre-owned homes, alongside newly built units, will become an important route for paring housing stocks.

Funding is likely to be a key factor in this process. In the past two years, many regions have issued special bonds to raise funds to buy existing housing. Provinces such as Zhejiang and Sichuan have issued more than CNY4.3 billion (USD623.74 million) of these bonds since last year, according to the China Index Academy. 

Efforts are also being made to link housing policies with measures to encourage childbirth, including beefing up housing support for newly married couples and first-time parents as well as better housing access for multi-child families. This aims to provide housing guarantees for families, the China Index Academy said, adding that demand-side policies will be better targeted this year.

Editor: Tom Litting