In two China cities, civil servants told to help clear unsold homes

Some Chinese civil servants have been given an additional responsibility: to help offload a big housing stock as cautious homebuyer sentiment threatens to deepen a property malaise.

Sixian, a small city in the eastern province of Anhui, has required civil servants to sell property to their friends and family, the Chinese financial media outlet Yicai reported on Wednesday.

"Civil servants should mobilise their friends and relatives to take practical action towards purchasing homes," Yicai cited the Sixian government as saying.

Sixian is not alone in calling on civil servants to help sell homes.

Officials in Shimen, a small city in Hunan province in the