Chinese Premeir Warns of "Downward Pressure" on Economy HONG KONG - Premier Wen Jiabao of China warned on Sunday of "huge downward pressure" on the Chinese economy, in the clearest expression yet of concern at the top of the country's leadership about a sharp slowdown in recent months. During a weekend inspection tour of east-central China, Mr. Wen called for the government to "preset and fine-tune its policies in a more aggressive manner," using fiscal and monetary tools to offset the economic slowdown as much as possible. But he also tried to reassure the Chinese public, saying that the economy was "running at a generally stable pace," said Xinhua, the official news agency. Mr. Wen largely attributed the slowdown t to weak demand from overseas, particularly Europe with its faltering economies. But in separate remarks on Saturday, Mr. Wen reaffirmed a government policy of making real estate prices more affordable, by strictly banning real estate speculation. That policy that has played a central role in the country's economic slowdown, as residential real estate construction has slowed to a crawl except for low-income housing. Developers across the country have laid off huge numbers of workers as construction sites from the steamy factory cities of Guangdong in the southeast to manufacturing and logistics hubs like Xi'an in the northwest have cut back this year from three shifts working around the clock, seven days a week, to a single daytime shift on weekdays. Scant accurate data is available on the extent of the decline in real estate prices. Brokers say that prices have fallen 20 percent or more in the past year. A monthly government survey of older neighborhoods where few transactions take place shows a much smaller decline, however, while a separate survey of real estate developers shows that few are admitting to the steep discounting described by brokers. The Chinese central bank announced on Thursday night that it was cutting the country's regulated bank lending and deposit rates for the second time in four weeks, an uncharacteristically brisk pace. The interest rate cuts have started to rekindle the Chinese public's enthusiasm for real estate investments, with the number of transactions starting to quicken in recent weeks. But the central bank warned banks on Thursday night to keep a tight rein on mortgage lending, and Mr. Wen said Saturday that the government's policy of improving the affordability of real estate had not wavered. "To further implement the regulation, Wen urged unswerving efforts to ensure prices return to reasonable levels, and block a price rebound that would undermine the effects of previous efforts," Xinhua said. Informal tallies suggest that about a third of China's 100 largest cities have loosened the ban on real estate speculation in recent weeks to revive local markets. Mr. Wen warned that these loosening moves must be halted and reversed, and even threatened punishment for officials who tried to "cheat" on the restrictions. Sales of land leases are a critical source of revenues for local governments, so the downturn in real estate markets has hurt their finances. Many of these governments are deeply in debt after spending lavishly in 2009 and 2010 on infrastructure projects like airports, highways and high-speed rail so as to offset within China the effects of the global economic slowdown. The Chinese government has already adopted a series of policies to support the rest of the economy. In addition to the interest rate cuts, the government has already freed banks to lend a larger share of their deposits, subsidized the sale of energy-saving home appliances and accelerated the approval of large construction projects. During his inspection tour over the weekend, Mr. Wen hinted at further measures, including tax credits for companies that invest in research and development, and urged Chinese businesses to pursue export opportunities in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and South Asia as alternatives to industrialized countries where protectionist pressures might build. Despite these efforts in recent weeks, economic data for June and for the second quarter, scheduled to be released in the coming week, is expected to show further weakness. April and May data already show unusually slow growth in retail sales, investment, electricity consumption and other key barometers of economic growth. As electricity demand has slowed, so much unneeded coal has accumulated that storage areas at major Chinese ports are at record levels and arriving ships full of coal have to wait many days to unload. Piles of mined coal fill empty lots and line roadsides in some coal-mining areas in northern China, as mine owners maintain production while hoping prices will recover.