New Gimmick to Sell Houses in China: Marathon Participants Can Receive a Subsidy of 460,000
As China's real estate market continues to decline, several cities, including Nanjing, have introduced a new promotional gimmick: offering housing subsidies of up to RMB 100,000 (approx. NT$460,000) to marathon finishers. This is an attempt to boost home sales by leveraging sporting events.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 13, 2026 at 13:18
- 🔍 Collected: April 13, 2026 at 13:31 (12 min after Published)
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 13, 2026 at 15:13 (1h 41m after Collected)
Central News Agency, Taipei, April 13 (CNA) - As China's overall real estate market continues its downturn, new gimmicks for selling houses have emerged in many places. According to Chinese media reports, several cities in China are offering housing purchase subsidies to marathon participants. Qixia District in Nanjing City is providing a housing subsidy of up to RMB 100,000 (approximately NT$460,000) to runners who complete the marathon.
Chinese media The Paper reported on the 13th that the 2026 Nanjing Xianlin Half Marathon was held on the morning of the 12th, with 12,000 runners from home and abroad participating, and an overall completion rate of about 99%. Besides the event's popularity, the phased housing purchase subsidy policy introduced by Nanjing's Qixia District also became a focus of this half marathon.
Previously, the "Nanjing Qixia Release" WeChat public account published an article titled "Qixia Has Good Houses, Xianma Has Good Gifts, Q&A on Exclusive Housing Purchase Subsidy Policy," but the content is no longer viewable. However, the "Nanjing Qixia District People's Government Office" WeChat public account still retains information about the event.
The article stated that the housing purchase subsidy is applicable to runners who validly registered, actually participated in, and completed the 2026 Nanjing Xianlin Half Marathon. They can apply for the subsidy with the official certificate from the event and valid identification. The subsidy amounts are divided into RMB 20,000 for registered runners, RMB 60,000 for participants, and RMB 100,000 for finishers.
This subsidy is limited to one housing unit per runner and is valid from April 12 to May 31 of this year.
The report indicates that recently, different places in China have also seen promotional models combining sports events with housing purchase discounts. According to incomplete statistics, cities such as Wuxi and Yancheng in Jiangsu, Xixian New Area in Shaanxi, and Shiyan and Jingzhou in Hubei have launched similar marathon participant housing purchase subsidy policies.
Taking Jingzhou in Hubei as an example, "Jingzhou Release" announced on March 26 that runners who successfully registered for the 2026 Jingzhou Marathon could directly deduct RMB 10,000 from the housing price if they purchased a property from one of the cooperative projects during the period from March 27 to April 10. There are 19 real estate companies cooperating with this event.
China's real estate market is in a slump. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in February, the year-on-year price decline for new commercial housing in first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier cities has widened. From January to February, the national real estate development investment decreased by 11.1% year-on-year, and the sales of new housing decreased by an even larger 21.8%. (Editor: Chen Kai-yu/Chou Hui-ying) 1150413
Chinese media The Paper reported on the 13th that the 2026 Nanjing Xianlin Half Marathon was held on the morning of the 12th, with 12,000 runners from home and abroad participating, and an overall completion rate of about 99%. Besides the event's popularity, the phased housing purchase subsidy policy introduced by Nanjing's Qixia District also became a focus of this half marathon.
Previously, the "Nanjing Qixia Release" WeChat public account published an article titled "Qixia Has Good Houses, Xianma Has Good Gifts, Q&A on Exclusive Housing Purchase Subsidy Policy," but the content is no longer viewable. However, the "Nanjing Qixia District People's Government Office" WeChat public account still retains information about the event.
The article stated that the housing purchase subsidy is applicable to runners who validly registered, actually participated in, and completed the 2026 Nanjing Xianlin Half Marathon. They can apply for the subsidy with the official certificate from the event and valid identification. The subsidy amounts are divided into RMB 20,000 for registered runners, RMB 60,000 for participants, and RMB 100,000 for finishers.
This subsidy is limited to one housing unit per runner and is valid from April 12 to May 31 of this year.
The report indicates that recently, different places in China have also seen promotional models combining sports events with housing purchase discounts. According to incomplete statistics, cities such as Wuxi and Yancheng in Jiangsu, Xixian New Area in Shaanxi, and Shiyan and Jingzhou in Hubei have launched similar marathon participant housing purchase subsidy policies.
Taking Jingzhou in Hubei as an example, "Jingzhou Release" announced on March 26 that runners who successfully registered for the 2026 Jingzhou Marathon could directly deduct RMB 10,000 from the housing price if they purchased a property from one of the cooperative projects during the period from March 27 to April 10. There are 19 real estate companies cooperating with this event.
China's real estate market is in a slump. According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in February, the year-on-year price decline for new commercial housing in first-tier, second-tier, and third-tier cities has widened. From January to February, the national real estate development investment decreased by 11.1% year-on-year, and the sales of new housing decreased by an even larger 21.8%. (Editor: Chen Kai-yu/Chou Hui-ying) 1150413