Chinese authorities have moved to curb soaring property prices, amid concerns that speculation and explosive growth in bank lending have caused an asset-price bubble.

In one of the latest moves, several major banks have toughened lending rules for property developers and reduced 2010 loan quotas.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the nation's largest lender, said Monday it will stop lending to property developers without adequate project capital or licenses, and even reclaim loans from those who hoard land and homes.

China Construction Bank has set its 2010 new loan quota at 750 billion yuan (US$109.8 billion), down from 950 billion yuan in 2009.

Many banks have also cut mortgage rate discounts, after the People's Bank of China and the China Banking Regulatory Commission ordered steady lending growth to guard against asset bubbles and credit risks.

Punishment

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Urban Planning Tuesday said it has rejected planning changes for a land plot in the downtown area, one of the most expensive land deals last year.

Fangxing Property, a subsidiary of state-owned Sinochem, won the bid for the 155,900-square-meter plot for 4.06 billion yuan last June. It then applied to build higher buildings, and change the location of a planned park on what was then known as the "land king." The move was rejected by the commission.

Moreover, local governments have already revoked the rights of several real estate developers to buy residential land, after delays in payment and the closing of deals.

The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Land and Resources on February 1 said it has revoked the right of Beijing Dalong Weiye Real Estate Development Co. to buy a land after it missed the deadline for signing a land transfer agreement.

The agency also decided to keep the 200 million yuan security deposit Beijing Dalong had paid. The company, owned by Beijing's Shunyi district government, bid and acquired the parcel of residential land in Shunyi for 5.05 billion yuan on November 20, 2009.

Dalong is not alone. Authorities in the eastern city of Nanjing said on Feb. 3 they had revoked the rights of two property developers to buy a residential plot they won at a auction two years ago.

The developments suggest local authorities are working to regulate land sales, said Wang Yu, a lawyer at Beijing-based Dacheng Law Offices.

Timely punishment for those property developers that are quick to bid for land even though they don't hold sufficient capital may help curb home prices from souring, Wang said.