(May 20): Foreign buyers swooped in to purchase Chinese stocks on Friday as Xi Jinping’s government announced a slew of measures to bolster the housing market.

Traders purchased 14 billion yuan (RM8.9 billion) of A-shares on Friday via the links with Hong Kong, the most since a record day in late April. That came as Beijing announced its most forceful attempt yet to rescue the beleaguered Chinese property market, including relaxing mortgage rules.

Equity investors had cheered the news on Friday, sending a Bloomberg Intelligence index of developer shares up by nearly 10%. Policymakers are showing a sense of urgency as official data Friday showed that home prices in April had the steepest month-on-month drops in a decade.

Still, the gauge rose 22% in the previous three trading sessions and is hovering around its highest levels since November. With a broader rally in Chinese stocks continuing, optimism from foreign investors appears to be coming back after a long stretch of hesitation.