China says property controls still needed

BEIJING: Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday it was too early to loosen curbs on speculative property investment, state media reported, as authorities keep a tight grip over China's once red-hot housing sector.

Wen, who was inspecting an affordable housing project said government efforts to rein in runaway housing prices had been largely successful, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"But the controls over the real estate market are still in a critical period," Wen said in the port city of Tianjin, southeast of Beijing.

By AFP