Foreigners to be barred from investing in Chinese villas

Foreigners are to be banned from investing in the construction of villas in China as part of a wider raft of rule changes that reflect current government policy, Reuters reported. In planned revisions to the Catalogue Guiding Foreign Investment in Industry, involvement in the construction and management of villas has been moved from the “restricted” to the “prohibited” category. Analysts played down the significance of the move. Albert Lau, managing director of Savills (SVS.LSE) Shanghai, noted that foreign investment was already limited due to foreign exchange curbs and difficulties acquiring land. The guidelines also reclassify investment in domestic mail express delivery services as prohibited, in what appears to be a formalization of restrictions set down in the 2009 Postal Law. Meanwhile, alternative-fuel cars have been upgraded to the “encouraged” category. This encouragement is likely to be manifested in preferential tax rates and other incentives.