More than 60 percent of Chinese investors expect stock prices to rise despite the depressed market since January, according to a survey released by China's securities regulator on April 2.

Share prices fell on April 2 to a 12-month low of 3,329.16 points. Compared with the last trading day of 2007, prices tumbled nearly 37 percent.

Despite this, investors, who were mostly male, well educated and young to early middle age, remained optimistic.

Male investors made up more than 66 percent of the 18,095 respondents who finished the questionnaire designed by China Securities Investor Protection Fund and the China Securities Regulatory Commission's Investor Education office. More than 83 percent of the respondents had junior college diplomas or above.

Caution Warning to Banks

Banks in Shanghai have been told to exercise caution on mortgage lending to help combat speculation and stabilize property prices.

Shanghai's banking regulator recently said all local banks must abide by strict mortgage lending policies and spot checks will be conducted.

The statement is a response to recent media reports that domestic banks were lowering lending standards to second-home buyers to boost mortgages, which bring a large share of bank profits.

The central bank and the China Banking Regulatory Commission raised the requirement for mortgage deposits last year for second-home buyers to at least 40 percent, with a 10-percent premium on the interest rate.

Steel in Short Supply

China's steel prices will continue to stay high this year, pushed up by booming demand and rising costs, say domestic industry experts.

"Steel prices still have room to expand, and the per-ton price will break the $1,000 threshold in the near future," the March 31 issue of China Securities Journal quoted Zhou Xizeng, a leading analyst with the Beijing-based CITIC Securities as saying.

A supply shortage is expected in the domestic market as newly developed production capacity cannot keep up with the government's steps to eliminate outdated capacity.

This will further widen the gap between demand and supply as reconstruction after the severe winter weather and rising investment in real estate requires more steel.

Oil Production Expanded

China processed more crude oil in the first two months to ease supply shortages plaguing some areas.

China refined 55.81 million tons of crude oil in the first two months, up 7.4 percent from the same period of 2007, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said at the end of March.

Output of gasoline and diesel surged 4.1 percent and 12.5 percent, respectively. Natural gas production expanded by 20.3 percent.

According to the NDRC, the country's crude oil output hit 30.78 million tons in the January-February period, up 1.2 percent year on year, while imports shot up 9.5 percent to 28.23 million tons.

Cheaper Housing on the Way

Land prices will rise more slowly this year than in 2007 as measures to curb property prices start working, a report from the China Land Surveying and Planning Institute (CLSPI) has forecast.

According to the report of the institute under the Ministry of Land and Resources, land prices in major cities in 2007 rose 13.37 percent over the previous year and the year-on-year growth rate was more than double that recorded in 2006.

The State Council, or cabinet, issued a circular on land conservation at the beginning of this year that aimed to improve the efficiency of land use and curb speculation. The government also vowed to increase the supply of affordable housing. These measures would help stabilize prices, the CLSPI report said.