Beijing’s mayor has promised that house prices in the capital will not rise in 2017 in an attempt to ease concerns over the city’s property bubble. 北京市长承诺中国首都的房价在2017年不会上涨，此言意在缓解人们对该市房地产泡沫的担忧。
Flatlining prices will delight residents paying the world’s most unaffordable rents, but dismay investors who had bought houses in a city where prices have risen more than 25 per cent this year. 价格持平将让那些支付着世界上最难以承受的租金的居民们满意，但将让那些已在该市购房的投资者失落；今年北京楼价上涨逾25%。
“We must be firm in stamping out speculative investment [in property], increase the supply of residential housing, and guarantee that there will be no month-on-month increases in house prices,” the mayor Cai Qi told a government conference, according to state media reports yesterday. 据官方媒体昨日报道，蔡奇市长在政府会议上表示，“要精准发力，坚决抑制投资投机行为，加大普通商品住房供给力度，确保明年房价环比不增长。”
China is hitting the brakes on house prices after two years of soaring gains. The nation’s top economic policy committee declared this month that “houses are for living in, not for speculating with”. 经过两年的楼价飙涨，中国正在踩下刹车。中央经济工作会议本月宣告，“房子是用来住的，不是用来炒的”。
Since September, more than 20 city governments have tried to suppress housing demand by restricting house purchases and increasing the minimum downpayment required for mortgages. Property developers have been banned from borrowing to buy land. 自9月以来，20多个城市的政府试图通过限制购房和提高贷款购房的最低首付来抑制住房需求。房地产开发商被禁止利用借款购买土地。
As a result, residential house price increases in Beijing and other top-tier cities slowed almost to a standstill in November. many analysts forecast a downturn next year for the country’s leading cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. 其结果是，北京和其他一线城市的住宅价格上涨在11月放缓至近乎停滞。许多分析师预测，明年中国主要城市北京、上海、深圳和广州的楼价将出现下滑。
Mr Cai said that the government would increase the supply of land for residential property development, and would also ease rental-market regulations to provide more housing options. 蔡奇表示，政府将增加住宅用地供应，并将规范租赁市场，以提供更多的住房选择。
The mayor’s pronouncement leaves the city government steering a narrow course between price rises and much-dreaded falls. 市长的声明意味着，市政府将需要在房价上涨和可怕下跌之间走一条狭窄路线。
“The government’s bottom line is that they cannot let prices fall too much,” said Wang Xinling, lead analyst at China Policy, a research consultancy in Beijing. “政府的底线是不能让价格下跌太多，”北京研究咨询公司齐纳百思(China Policy)首席分析师王欣霖（音）说。
“Falls of over 5 per cent [over a year] would be seen by policymakers as having a big psychological impact on property owners.” “（一年）下降超过5%将被政策制定者认为会对房产拥有者产生很大的心理冲击。”
David Ji, head of China research at property consultancy Knight Frank, said: “[The mayor] will have to apply heavy measures in order to not lose face. We may see severe short-term measures to further restrict demand, since that is the easiest thing to do straight away.” 房地产咨询公司莱坊(Knight Frank)中国研究部主管纪言迅(David Ji)表示：“（市长）将不得不采取重大措施以免失去面子。我们可能会看到严厉的短期措施以进一步限制需求，因为这是眼下最容易做的事情。”
However, changing the long-term balance of supply and demand in the capital would require more difficult structural changes, Mr Ji added. 然而，纪言迅表示，改变首都住房的长期供求平衡，将需要展开更为困难的结构性改革。
“Housing newbuilds tend not to be so central because of short land supply. New housing far from the centre requires subway lines and transport.” “由于土地供应短缺，新建住房往往比较偏僻。远离市中心的新住房需要地铁线路和运输。”
Ms Wang pointed out that “raising land supply for housing is the main policy that would work”. 齐纳百思的王女士指出，“加大住房土地供应是可行的主要政策”。
译者/和风
