China Sees Land Sales Flat at $1.1 Trillion This Year

China’s 2023 national budget released Sunday suggests local governments’ revenue from land sales will remain sluggish as cash-strapped property developers are reluctant to buy land to start new projects amid weak sales.

Revenue of government-managed funds, mainly from sales of land-use rights to property developers, plunged more than 20% to 7.8 trillion yuan ($1.1 trillion) in 2022. Such revenue is expected to edge up 0.4% this year, the Ministry of Finance said in its budget report submitted Sunday to the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature.