(Yicai) April 17 -- China greenlit more than 2,100 real estate projects included in the country’s “whitelist” property financing program to receive funds from lenders in the first three months since the launch of the program.

The property development projects on the list that were approved between late January and the end of last month will receive or have already received funds worth a total of CNY520 billion (USD71.8 billion) from Chinese commercial banks, according to the National Financial Regulatory Administration.

On Jan. 5, China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the NFRA announced a plan to establish a financing coordination mechanism for the real estate sector aiming at satisfying the legitimate financing needs of property projects and supporting the stable and sound growth of the market. The mechanism kicked off in late January when the first batch of property projects were added to the whitelist.

Banks then formed a special channel to prioritize the smooth approval of eligible real estate projects to improve the mechanism efficiency. Projects without real financing needs or owned by troubled builders, such as those bankrupted or in the process of restructuring, seizure, and freezing, will be removed from the whitelist.

Some projects that may be halted but already partially sold can still receive financial support with the new financing coordination mechanism, boosting home buyers’ confidence and stabilizing the real estate market, industry insiders said. The mechanism focuses on projects under construction, easing the liquidity pressure on builders and enhancing the willingness of financial institutions to lend, they added.

In the future, the NFRA and the MoHURD will approve more batches of whitelisted projects and urge financial institutions to actively support the legitimate financing needs of real estate projects and enterprises based on risk prevention, the NFRA pointed out.

Editor: Futura Costaglione