Consumer confidence dips, report says

China consumer confidence fell to the lowest this year in July amid a sluggish property market and worsening personal financial conditions, a private report showed.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan China Consumer Confidence Index, a monthly measure of consumption sentiment complied by Australia & New Zealand Banking Group and Melbourne-based research company Roy Morgan, fell for the third straight month to 146.2 this month from 147 in June.

The result came after a report by market research firm Nielsen on Tuesday. It said consumer confidence remained stable in the second quarter.

The ANZ-Roy Morgan sub-index measuring financial conditions compared with the same period of last year fell to the lowest this year.

Of the 13 cities surveyed, sentiment in nine cities improved while the other four witnessed declines. Consumer confidence declined 14 percentage points in Shanghai, but Beijing and Guangzhou saw modest gains.

"Consumer confidence dropped to the lowest level this year, suggesting softness in the property market continues to weigh on sentiment," said Liu Ligang, the chief economist at ANZ for China.

"As growth in the second quarter reached 7.5 percent and policies designed to rein in speculation in the property market are eased in more cities, we believe consumer confidence will pick up in coming months," he added.

The number of Chinese cities registering a monthly housing price decline rose to 55 in June from 35 in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.