The rules target property speculation and could help reduce investment from overseas. But their effect on the overall market is likely to be primarily psychological because foreign money accounts for a relatively small share of total spending on property in China, analysts said.

The rules reduce the amount big foreign property buyers can borrow by requiring them to provide at least 50% of the capital up front for property investments of $10 million or more, up from 35% of the total now. The rules also limit who can purchase an apartment to overseas nationals who actually live in China, according to a statement posted on a Web site run by the State Council, China's cabinet.

Issued jointly by six government agencies including the central bank, the rules are aimed at tempering "relatively fast growth in foreign investment" in the local real-estate market, the statement said.

Underlining official concerns over the economy, Chinese President Hu said the government "must thoroughly control" fixed-asset investment and "continue to strengthen and improve macroeconomic adjustments," state-run media reported. Mr. Hu told a meeting of Communist Party leaders earlier that China will limit "blind expansion" in industries that are energy-intensive, polluting or plagued with overcapacity, the reports said.

China's property market is driven mostly by domestic spending. Foreign purchases of property totaled about $3.4 billion in 2005, according to Chinese government data. While precisely comparable figures weren't available, government data show that investment in residential property alone totaled about $165 billion last year.

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