China's home prices up slightly in February

BEIJING, March 15 (Xinhua) -- Home prices in 70 major Chinese cities edged up in February, official data showed Friday.

The National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement that new house prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- edged up 0.3 percent month on month in February, down from the 0.4-percent increase in January.

New home prices climbed 0.7 percent in 31 second-tier cities, and rose 0.4 percent in 35 third-tier cities.