The mainland is risking property market 'bubbles' to encourage growth in the economy, former Morgan Stanley Asia economist Andy Xie says.

'People are looking at the bubbles as a way to gain economic growth in the short term,' Xie said yesterday. 'They are not sure of the long-term damage that they may suffer.'

Property sales and values have surged as the government implemented its four trillion yuan (HK$4.54trn) stimulus package and banks extended a record 8.67 trillion yuan of credit.

The mainland economy grew 8.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said yesterday, while home prices rose at the fastest pace in a year last month, government reports showed last week.

South China Morning Post