(Yicai  Global) Jan. 24 -- Land sales in China expanded by one-quarter last  year to hit a record-high of CNY6.5 trillion (USD959.3 billion),  according to official data. 

Zhejiang  provincial capital Hangzhou led the country in terms of land revenues  by city with CNY250 billion (USD36.8 billion), data from China's finance  ministry shows. Some 11 cities hit the CNY100 billion mark including  Shanghai, Zhengzhou and Chongqing.

Despite  the strong overall results, China's land sector had a mixed year with  first-half revenue clearly higher than that of the second. Although land  sales were high on a national level, performance varied greatly in  terms of geographical spread. Land markets in multiple key cities  declined dramatically. For example, Beijing sold 72 parcels of land  covering 8.6 million square meters for CNY168.3 billion, a 40 percent  fall in price compared with the year before.

First-half  house sales in third and fourth-tier cities and popular second-tier  cities maintained a strong showing but real estate sales gradually  slowed in the second half. The land market cooled amid tightening  regulation and an increase in abortive land auctions.

Strict  government control over sales in first and second-tier cities,  financing pressure and development limitations on some plots led to weak  demand, said Zhang Dawei, an analyst at Centaline Property.

Land  prices have mostly risen in recent years, indirectly pushing up house  prices. Stable land prices have become a key local government assessment  indicator for regulators.

The  country aims to stabilize prices and expectations for land and houses  this year, Housing Minister Wang Menghui said at a national work  conference in late December in Beijing. The ministry will also work to  promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market.

Revenues  from China's national land sales were CNY3.3 trillion, CNY2.8 trillion,  CNY4.1 trillion, CNY4.3 trillion, CNY3.3 trillion, CNY3.7 trillion and  CNY5.2 trillion, from 2011 to 2017.