Public backlash over housing prices

Skyrocketing property prices remain a sore point for many Chinese, with a recent study finding nearly three-quarters of respondents believe they are unacceptably high. The central bank's quarterly survey also shows that more than half of respondents were concerned by inflation.

The survey conducted by the People's Bank of China showed that more than 70 percent of respondents from 50 Chinese cities believe current housing prices are unacceptably high. Since the second quarter of last year, the proportion of people dismayed by housing prices has steadily risen. Even those with medium to high incomes have echoed these complaints.

More than half of respondents flagged concerns about the current rate of inflation. The 51 percent ratio marked a record-high since the PBOC's began its quarterly survey in 1999.

The survey's index of future price expectations fell to 65.6 percent from the previous quarterly poll. But the PBOC study added people expected inflation to continue rising next quarter.