Housing prices will continue to rise in China in the second quarter of 2007, a report released by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) said recently.

China's housing prices have surged despite efforts by the government to contain them.

Fast growth in fixed assets investment, money supply and loans are fuelling housing price rices, the report said.

China's excess liquidity is driving real estate development projects and keeping housing prices bubbling, said Nie Meisheng, a senior ACFIC official.

Investment in China's real estate sector topped two trillion yuan in 2006, four times the figure for 2000, according to official figures.

China's economy is going well and polls show that people with high- and medium income are keen to buy houses, the report said.

The second quarter will see no slowdown in the inflationary trend, it concluded.

(Xinhua News Agency April 29, 2007)