The Great Wall of China !

Property prices in China have soared in recent times to reach unjustifiable levels. And banks have been responsible for the same as they have lent indiscriminately to the sector. So, it hardly comes as a surprise that Chinese banks have been instructed by China's banking regulator to undergo stress tests. This is for the scenario of a 60% plunge in home prices envisaged in Chinese cities where prices have jumped out of control.What happened to the property market in the US is still fresh in the minds of everybody including the Chinese. The mortgage market there collapsed and triggered the biggest global financial crisis since the Great Depression. Little surprise then that the Chinese authorities do not want to find themselves in the same boat. The Chinese government has been doing its bit to ease the housing bubble. It has taken steps such as lifting minimum mortgage rates and down payments for second homes. It has also suspended lending for third homes. This has obviously not satiated the government. And so it wants to take additional measures to prevent the kind of crisis that emanated from the US.