BEIJING — China's investment in property development rose 7 percent year-on- year in 2020, picking up from the 6.8-percent increase in the first 11 months, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Jan 18.

Total property investment in 2020 stood at 14.14 trillion yuan (about $2.18 trillion), the NBS said.

Investment in residential buildings went up 7.6 percent year-on-year, 0.2 percentage points higher than the growth in the first 11 months.

In 2020, commercial housing sales climbed 2.6 percent year-on-year in terms of floor area to 1.76 billion square meters, widening from the 1.3-percent growth in Jan-Nov period.

In terms of value, commercial housing sales rose 8.7 percent year-on-year to 17.36 trillion yuan last year, up 2.2 percentage points from 2019.

The property development climate index compiled by the NBS went up slightly by 0.21 points to 100.76 points in December.

China's real estate market saw steady operation in the past year, with the goals of stabilizing land and home prices as well as market expectations basically realized, said Wang Menghui, minister of housing and urban-rural development.

Official data also showed the country continued to see a generally stable housing market in December, with home prices in 70 major cities showing mild month-on-month increases.