The Chinese Government issued a ban on the construction of new shopping malls covering an area of two hectares or more. Mall projects that were approved before the ban but had not yet begun construction were also halted for review.
Officials said the ban was to fight a property bubble that has consumed RMB 130 billion in bank loans. China built a record 94 large-scale shopping malls in 2003, 35 of them in Shanghai.
The ban was issued by the State Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Ministry of Construction, Finance and Land and the Ministry of Natural Resources.