(Yicai) March 27 -- More than 70 percent of Chinese provincial-level regions reported a drop in revenue raised from selling land-use rights last year from the previous one amid a sluggish real estate market in China.

Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong, three economically robust eastern provinces, ranked first through third for the third straight year, according to an analysis of provincial budget reports by Yuekai Securities Research Institute. Seven of the top 10 regions are in eastern China, with relatively higher real estate activity and land market resilience in developed areas.

Jiangsu's income from land sales tumbled 23 percent to CNY727 billion (USD100 billion), while the figure reached CNY472.1 in Zhejiang and CNY397.3 billion in Shandong. Sichuan province, Shanghai, Guangdong province, Hubei province, Beijing, Fujian province, and Guizhou province completed the top 10.

Shanghai overtook Guangdong to take the fifth spot this year, while Beijing climbed to eighth from 10th, Luo Zhiheng, chief economist at Yuekai Securities, told Yicai. Fujian gained three places to rank ninth, while southwestern Guizhou debuted in the top 10, with Hunan and Anhui provinces dropping out, he added.

Despite over 70 percent of provinces reporting a dip in income raised from selling land-use rights, 14 saw milder declines from a year earlier, Luo said, adding that Hubei was the only one from the top 10 to log a growth this year.

"Positive signals emerged after a slew of real estate market support policies in the fourth quarter of last year, with core cities, including first-tier ones, seeing a clear rebound in the land market," Luo noted. "The national income from land sales fell just 6.3 percent last quarter, sharply narrowing from a near 25 percent drop in the first three quarters."

Most provinces remain cautious with their estimates for revenue from land sales this year. Jiangsu expects it to drop 19 percent to CNY590 billion and Zhejiang 6.4 percent to CNY442 billion, while Guangdong predicts it to jump 10.6 percent to CNY300 billion.

While land markets show signs of early-year recovery, the regional divergence remains stark, Luo pointed out. China's four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou -- lead with faster revenue growth and higher premium rates, signaling a "stabilization" in their local markets, he noted.

Revenue from land sales in 300 major Chinese cities jumped 19.3 percent in the two months ended Feb. 28 from a year ago, compared with a 14.8 percent year-on-year increase last year. First-tier cities saw the figure surge 58 percent, with second-tier cities reporting a 31 percent jump and lower-tier cities a 9.9 percent growth.

Chinese local governments' revenue from sales of land-use rights plunged 16 percent to CNY4.87 trillion (USD671 billion) last year from the year before, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Finance. The figure fell 13.2 percent in 2023 and 23 percent in 2022.

Editor: Martin Kadiev