Getting the most out of property purchase contracts – Guangdong Focus

According to the Opinions on Regulating the Access to and Administration of Foreign Investment in the Real Estate Market (Opinions), a foreign institution or individual that wishes to purchase a house in China must comply with the following regulations, which have been in effect since July 11 2006:

• A branch or representative office, established in China by an overseas institution (except for an enterprise that has been approved to engage in real estate operation) or a foreign individual that has worked or studied in China for more than one year may purchase a commercial house according to his actual needs of self-use or self-accommodation, but may not for other reasons. An overseas institution without any branch or representative office in China or a foreign individual that has not yet worked or studied for more than one year in China may not purchase a commercial house. A Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan resident or an overseas Chinese may purchase a commercial house of a certain area for self-accommodation within China in line with his needs.
• Overseas institutions and individuals that meet the relevant provisions must adopt a real-name system for purchasing commercial houses for self-use or self-accommodation, and, upon effective certification (an overseas institution must hold the certification issued by the relevant departments on the establishment of a China-based branch, while a foreign individual must hold the certification for his work and study in China issued by the Chinese party), they may register for rights to land use and/or house property with the administrative departments of land and real estate. The administrative department in charge of the registration of property rights will, in strict accordance with the principles of self-use and self-accommodation, handle the registration of the overseas institution and individual, and will not register for any house that fails to meet the relevant conditions.