Chinese President Xi Jinping used this week’s Central Urban Work Conference in Beijing to call for the acceleration of what he termed a “new model” for property development, underscoring the need for more balanced urban planning and upgrades. In a speech delivered Monday and Tuesday, Xi laid out the overall requirements, guiding principles and priority tasks that will steer China’s city building over the coming years. The conference, attended by all seven members of the Communist Party’s Politburo Standing Committee, signaled top-level backing for a shift away from the heavy-building approach that has dominated China’s property sector for decades. Xi urged authorities to refine land use, improve public services, and pursue environmentally sustainable growth, measures aimed at stabilizing the beleaguered real-estate market while curbing excessive expansion.