From Wall Street Journal:
China has tightened land-sale regulations for developers in its latest attempt to take some of the steam out of the potentially overheating property market.
The new rules include the first nationwide minimum down payment on land purchases from the government, and follow a vow from Beijing last week to curb what it calls an “overly fast” rise in property prices by boosting the supply of cheap public housing and redeveloping slum areas.
Beijing is concerned about long-term inflationary pressure building as a result of a fast economic recovery spurred by a government-engineered credit boom and huge public spending. It also faces public anxiety about possible overheating in the property sector, as well as a potential asset bubble in the stock market, which could eventually threaten social stability.
