China limits building of villas, golf courses
(Xinhua/AP)
Updated: 2005-12-21 17:25

China plans to limit the building of villas, golf courses and other luxury projects in an effort to protect the environment and prevent wasteful investments, the government said Wednesday.

The restrictions are among a list of targets contained in the Guiding Catalogue for the Adjustment of Industrial Structure, issued on Wednesday by the National Reform and Development Commission, calling on local officials to encourage promising industries such as telecoms while discouraging businesses that waste energy and other resources.

The building restrictions are meant to limit "blind investment" and protect the environment, Liu Zhi, director of the National Reform and Development Commission's Department of Industrial Policy, said at a news conference in Beijing Wednesday.

The central government is trying to rein in a building boom that could fuel inflation and leave China littered with unneeded shopping malls, luxury housing and other projects, threatening banks if developers default on loans.

The State Council, or the cabinet, in the Decision of the State Council on Implementing the Interim Regulations on Promoting the Adjustment of Industrial Structure, urges local governments to take such adjustment as "a major task."

According to the document released by the State Council, local governments are called on to design measures to properly guide investment, so as to encourage and support the development of "advanced productivity" while limiting the growth and finally eliminating the out-of-date industries, as well as prevent blind and repeated investment.

It also asked relevant departments to speed up formulation and amendment of policies on finance, credit, land use, international trade and other issues, so as to facilitate and pushforward the industrial structure adjustment.

According to the State Council document, local governments should properly handle the relationship between government guidance and market regulation, and let market be the main player in resource allocation.

In the meantime, relevant departments are required to properly deal with the relationship between growth and stability, between partial interests and holistic interests, and between short-term and long-term interests, so as to maintain a rapid and stable economic development.

The National Development and Reform Commission also issued on Wednesday the Guiding Catalogue for the Adjustment of Industrial Structure as a supplementary document to the State Council Decision.