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A top adviser to the People’s Bank of China on Saturday called for strengthening the country’s real estate policy in light of sluggish economic growth as China pursued its zero-covid policy this year.

China’s covid outbreaks looked set to worsen, with Zhejiang — a big industrial province near Shanghai — battling around a million new daily infections, a number the provincial government expects to double in the days ahead.

Analysts expect the spreading infections to continue curbing industrial activity and domestic demand in the near term.

Iron ore’s most-traded May contract on China’s Dalian Commodity Exchange ended daytime trade 1.4% higher at 828 yuan ($118.77) a tonne.

“A stabilization of China’s real estate sector, in combination with the country’s substantial infrastructure stimulus and only modest supply growth from Australia and Brazil, is expected to provide support to steel and iron ore prices (in 2023),” the Australian government said in its latest resources and energy quarterly report.

China buys about 70% of global seaborne iron ore volumes, with Australia accounting for about half of the total supply.