China may further curb foreign investment in real estate sector

The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) has launched a survey on foreign investment in China's real estate sector, sparking fears of further government control to bring down the soaring housing prices.

The Shanghai Securities News reported that the survey was planned last November after the Ministry of Construction held another research meeting, and was carried out late December. Industry insiders suspected the survey might help implement the existing policies and restrict foreign investment into China's real estate market.

However, the SAIC's Shanghai and Beijing branches declared consistently that the move was to collect and compile national statistics for internal management.

Official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed a rapidly expanding inflow of overseas capital into the sector. During the Jan-Nov period last year, more than US$53.9 billion of foreign capital was injected in China's real estate sector, including those from Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao, jumping 71.9% from the same period of the previous year.