The world’s largest maritime law enforcement agency played an unprecedented role in Chinese military drills around Taiwan, simulating a blockade of the island.

China has made it clear that it won't hesitate to use military force if Taiwan pushes for independence, signaling an escalation in tensions.

Beijing’s massive military drills around Taiwan on Monday revealed significantly improved coordination between its navy and coastguard, according to observers, who say this could be key to mainland China’s blockade strategy for the island.

China has announced it will expand the amount of financing available for housing projects on a “white list” to 4 trillion yuan ($562 billion), seeking to reverse a slump in the property industry.

China plans to almost double credit support for “whitelist” housing projects to Rmb4tn ($562bn) as part of official efforts to reinvigorate its property sector and turn around the economy. The whitelist was introduced in January and includes projects and developers eligible to receive further financing from local and state-owned banks to help them complete unfinished projects.

China's Housing Minister Ni Hong, speaking at a briefing, says the government will expand a program to support “white list” property projects to 4 trillion yuan ($562 billion) from about 2.23 trillion yuan already deployed.

China said its day of war games around democratically governed Taiwan on Monday was a warning against "separatist acts" and threatened more could be in the offing, drawing condemnation from the governments of Taiwan and the United States.

China, which views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory, staged a day of large-scale drills around the island on Monday