China's largest real estate developer by market value, Vanke, has reported third-quarter profit down by 13.4 percent from the same period last year due to a slowing housing market.

The Shenzhen-listed company said it would be impossible to reach its annual target of a 15-percent net profit rise from 2007's 4.84 billion yuan (US$708 million). The third-quarter profit of 2008 was 215 million yuan. Property sales revenue shrank 31.9 percent from July to September, according to a company statement posted on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange on Monday night.

The company's second quarter profit was 134 million yuan.

The economic and financial environment, and drastic changes in economic outlook and confidence in future incomes complicated China's housing market, leading to falling prices and sales, the report said.

Although Vanke's sales were better than market expectations, it could not escape the impact of the market slowdown.

The company has slashed its new home construction plans by 16 percent to 5.7 million square meters in floor space, said the statement.

Vanke shares lost 1.53 percent to close at 5.79 yuan on Tuesday.

The government cut mortgage rates by 0.27 percentage points, scrapped stamp tax on home purchases, and lowered the minimum down-payment from 30 to 20 percent for first time buyers on Oct. 22 to boost the ailing property market.

The adjustment was made to offset the impact of the global financial crisis and to stimulate domestic consumption, according to the People's Bank of China.

The stability of the property sector is significant for the national economy as it accounts for a quarter of domestic fixed asset investment which grew 27 percent in the first three quarters.

China's GDP slowed to?nine percent in the third quarter as the spreading credit crisis sapped foreign demand for Chinese goods. GDP for the first three quarters slowed to 9.9 percent, the first single-digit expansion since 2002.

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2008)