In the January-February period this year, total real estate investments in China amounted to RMB 1.0115 trillion ($0.14 trillion), down 16.3 percent year on year, reflecting the negative impact of the coronavirus, as announced by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Real estate sales, the main indicator influencing steel demand, posted a big year-on-year decline for the period, while the growth of new construction also slowed down significantly.
In the given period, new commercial real estate sold in China covered a total area of 84.75 million m2, down 39.9 percent on year-on-year basis.
At the same time, the total area covered by new construction activity in China in the January-February period increased by 2.9 percent, much slower compared to the increase rate of 8.7 percent in the full year of 2019.
Due to the coronavirus, sales activities of real estate developers have been negatively affected and construction activities have been halted, causing developers to be cautious in their investments.