Beijing mulls foreign investment in real estate

The State Administration of Industry and Commerce (SAIC) will conduct a nationwide survey on foreign investment in China’s real estate sector, Xinhua Net reported (in Chinese). The SAIC did not provide details of the survey, but analysts considered the move as a signal that the government will further tighten controls on foreign investment in the sector. Foreign funds accounted for 1.7% of total investment in real estate in the first eleven months of 2007, an increase of 71.9% over the same period of the previous year.