This followsa regulation

The new rules, issued by the State Administration of ForeignExchange and the Construction Ministry, state that foreigners mustobtain approval before repatriating proceeds from the sales ofproperty. They also require that foreign investors who want to takeover or acquire stakes in Chinese property companies must buy themin cash, and that banks and local foreign exchange administrationsstep up supervision over property purchases involving foreigncurrency. Banks will have to report any property purchases madewith foreign currency. Furthermore, overseas institutions will haveto provide evidence of their presence in China when buying propertyfor their own use. This documentation will be compulsory whenforeigners bring in foreign currency or register theirproperty.

A government statement says that China's land resources arescarce and its population huge, so the government needed to tightenup supervision of property investment by overseas institutions andindividuals. In recent years, overseas investors have soughtincreasingly to buy property in China on the expectation that thecurrency will continue to appreciate and property prices continueto soar. Housing prices in some cities have more than doubled overthe past few years, driven in part by overseas investors.