China Construction Bank to Set Up $4.2 Billion Fund to Buy Properties

(Bloomberg) — China Construction Bank Corp. (CCB) will set up a 30 billion yuan ($4.2 billion) fund to buy properties from developers, as policy makers beef up efforts to contain a real estate crisis that’s weighing on the economy.

The fund will “invest in existing assets” of real estate companies and renovate the properties into rental housing, the lender said in a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange Friday.