Chinese real estate developers accepting watermelons as payment: Here's why

The deep recession in China's property market has compelled real estate companies to float a bizarre marketing strategy to lure home buyers.China's real estate developers have started accepting payments for homes in watermelons and other agricultural produce."Real estate developers in Chinese third- and fourth-tier cities have launched various promotional campaigns recently, including encouraging home buyers to pay part of their down payment with wheat and garlic, in a bid to attract farmers to purchase newly built homes to offload excess housing inventory," Global Times reported.One developer in Nanjing said it would allow home buyers to pay for their homes using watermelon at a rate of 20 yuan per kilogram, as per Global Times.The media outlet quoting a representative of the company said that the bizarre promotional event has been suspended after being ordered by the headquarters."We were told to delete all promotional posters on the social media platforms," said the representative,