Property prices in major Chinese cities remained high, but rose at a slower pace in February, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

The average housing price in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities climbed 10.9 percent in February over the same month last year, 0.4 percentage points lower than in January, the NDRC said in a statement.

Prices for new apartments jumped 11.8 percent, down 0.4 percentage points from January, while prices for used flats rose 11.5 percent.

Housing price growth had been slowing as the government's macroeconomic policy began to pay off in the fourth quarter last year, said Qi Ji, Vice Minister of Construction.

Urumqi, capital of the northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, continued to top the growth list with a 24.2 percent increase. It was followed by Ningbo and Haikou, both at 18.9 percent.

Housing prices in Beijing were up 16.5 percent, 0.7 percentage points lower than January.

In contrast, prices of new homes in Zunyi City, of southwest Guizhou Province, declined 2.2 percent from the previous month, while the southwestern city of Chongqing fell 1.7 percent.

Housing prices in major Chinese cities rose 11.3 percent year on year in January, according to NDRC.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2008)