China to limit building of luxury projects
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-21 17:01

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 issued by authorities 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 on Tuesday.

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

The government has issued a series of bans in recent years on the building of golf courses, warning that they are wasting scarce water and farmland.