Land sales to foreigners may be capped

Beijing may restrict real estate purchases by foreign investors, Bloomberg reported. Lin Zheying, deputy director general of the Ministry of Commerce's Foreign Investment Administration, said new rules to come out this month may define what type of investor can buy land. New regulations could hurt plans by companies like Citigroup and Morgan Stanley to increase their holdings of Chinese real estate. In Beijing, prices went up 7.1% in May. The move to restrict foreign investment in land follows a number of measures, including new curbs on lending, that are part of an effort to slow down an economy that grew 10.3% in the first quarter.