The pace of house price rises in China continued to slow down in the third quarter of 2003, according to the latest official survey jointly released by the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics.

During the July-September period, the nationwide average house price rose 4.1 percent, slightly down comparing with the 5 percent in the second quarter, the China Daily reported Monday.

The statistics were published after an investigation of the housing market in 35 major cities across the country over the weekend.

The survey found that in China's economically booming areas such as Shanghai and the coastal city of Qingdao, house prices have kept on rising, but prices were declining in some cities in western China.

The 21.5-percent increase in the July-September period in Shanghai "indicated strong demand for property investment, particularly in the high-end residential projects priced above 8, 000 yuan (US$964) per square meter," said He Xiaocheng, an analyst at the Shanghai Housing Index Office.

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2003)