(Bloomberg) -- China’s banking regulator has asked lenders to provide credit to eligible developers so they can complete unfinished residential properties after home buyers stopped paying mortgages on at least 100 projects across 50 cities.

The guidance from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission was issued in response to the mortgage boycotts and is aimed at expediting the delivery of homes to buyers, a newspaper published by the watchdog reported Sunday, citing an unidentified senior officials at the agency. 

The move comes after regulators met with banks last week to discuss the growing number of consumers who’d decided against paying their mortgages, the latest threat to a key industry already battered by defaults among some of the countries biggest builders. State media have cited analysts warning that the stability of the financial system could be hurt if more home buyers follow suit.

Read: China Mortgage Boycott Data Erased by Censors as Crisis Spreads

Meanwhile, the China Banking and Insurance News’s report Sunday said that regulator had urged banks to support mergers and acquisitions by developers to help stabilize the real estate market. Banks were also asked to improve communications with home buyers and to protect their legal rights, the report said.

While commercial banks have called the situation controllable in public statements, concerns have persisted given the importance of the sector. The real estate industry, when including construction, sales and related services, accounts for about a fifth of China’s gross domestic product. An estimated 70% of the country’s middle-class wealth is also tied up in property.

Read: China’s Property Sector Remains Biggest Drag on Economy

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