Cautious China banks could undermine Beijing's property stimulus efforts

SHANGHAI: As stock market investors cheer Beijing's latest bid to boost the country's ailing housing sector, Chinese bankers are gritting their teeth over the risks they face in further relaxing lending rules to home buyers.

Alarmed by persistent weakness in the property market and its increasing drag on the economy, policymakers said on Monday they were cutting downpayments levels for the second time in six months and offering bigger tax breaks.