China's central bank issued a much-anticipated circular Friday, tightening controls on loans to the country's fast-growing real estate industry.

The new rules by the People's Bank of China restrict loans to developers, construction firms and home buyers. They follow months of dispute among government officials and economists as to whether the sector, widely seen as a key driver for this year's economic growth, is overheated.

China's real estate industry has grown considerably over the past few years. Outstanding loans to developers rose by an annual average of 25.3 per cent to reach 661.6 billion yuan (US$79.9 billion) at the end of last year compared to four years earlier.

Consumer home loans skyrocketed to 825.3 billion yuan (US$99.7 billion) at the end of last year, more than 40 times the figure in 1997.

But the central bank noted that "structural'' problems have emerged since the second half of last year, such as excessively high investment growth, rising numbers of unsaleable homes and surging prices.

"If these problems are not solved promptly, this will be unfavourable to the sustained and stable development of the real estate industry, unfavourable to preventing lending risks at banks,'' the bank said.

The central bank circular ordered commercial banks to be strict when issuing loans under the category of "real estate development credit.'' Some banks have gone beyond that category in pursuit of a bigger market share.

The circular also requires construction companies to stop letting developers use their working-capital bank loans, a widespread practice the bank said had increased construction firms' financial burdens. Building companies should only use such loans to buy construction equipment, the bank said.

Commercial banks also got permission in the circular to raise down payment requirements for home buyers wanting to buy a second home, luxury housing or town house.

In another development, the bank said Friday that SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) has not had a major impact on China's finance industry and is not likely to do so during the remainder of the year.

The central bank said it came to this conclusion after summarizing the industry's performance between January and May.

All major indicators of the finance industry during those first five months, including those for May alone, were healthy, the bank said. The SARS outbreak was at its peak in May.

"As the outbreak has been effectively controlled, our preliminary judgement is that SARS will not have a very big influence on China's financial performance for the whole of 2003,'' the bank stated.

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