By Yifan Wang

Shares of major Chinese property developers jumped in Hong Kong on Tuesday as the sector picked up from earlier losses amid growing hopes for a sales rebound this year.

Both Shimao Group Holdings Ltd. and China Aoyuan Group Ltd. surged as much as 13% while Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd. soared 9.6%. Greentown China Holdings Ltd. gained up to 7.7% after the developer said it will redeem $500 million worth of bonds, a signal it has ample financial resources.

Analysts said the upturn is likely a technical recovery from steep losses on Monday, when official data showed a sharp drop in China's December property sales. The data also suggested that many listed companies suffered their first-ever full-year sales contractions last year.

But the sector's outlook may brighten in 2022, analysts said, as Beijing gradually softens its tight policy controls. Both local, city-level home-buying support measures as well as improving financing policies for developers nationally should help improve sector liquidity and support sales, Jefferies said in a recent research note.

Write to Yifan Wang at yifan.wang@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-03-22 2242ET