Foreigners must provide documentation to purchase property

Although a recently released circular does not provide any new restrictions to foreigner housing purchases – they are still only allowed to buy one flat for their own use – it does stipulate extra measures the government is requiring to regulate the market.

David Blumenfeld, a Shanghai-based real estate partner at Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker said: “It's not that there are new rules but, rather, that the government is requiring that buyers make submissions that allow the government to better monitor compliance with the existing rules.”