Reuters reports that data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that new home prices in China rose at their fastest pace in five months in February, as red-hot demand for property in the world's-second largest economy largely eclipsed government efforts to cool the market.

Average new home prices in 70 major cities grew 0.4% in February from a 0.3% gain in January. New home prices rose 4.3% in February from a low base last year, after a 3.9% increase in January.

Real estate, a key pillar of China's economy, has helped fuel the country's robust economic recovery from last year's coronavirus-hit to output. But an extended surge in home prices in recent months has raised concerns about speculative asset bubbles, prompting tighter regulations to close loopholes in home transactions and contain illegal fund-flows into the sector.

The resilience of the housing market comes as China's economy managed to grow in 2020 and is widely expected to expand more than 8% this year, having succeded in getting the coronavirus largely under control.