Land prices surge in Chinese cities

Chinese cities have seen prices on land bids surge amid the waning effects of curbing measures.

A land lot in downtown Beijing was sold for 1.77 billion yuan (289 million U.S. dollars) on Wednesday, and on the same day, Poly Real Estate Group Co. Ltd. and China Vanke Co. Ltd. paid 2.36 billion yuan and 4.87 billion yuan, respectively, for lots in Shanghai.

"Competition for land has become hot since May," said a report from the China Land Surveying and Planning Institute.

Analysts say local governments are also encouraging land sales, as a slowdown in fiscal revenues and lingering concerns of credit tightening may squeeze funding pipelines for local government financing vehicles (LGFVs).

Beijing sold 86 land lots in the first half of this year, raking in 63 billion yuan, an amount equal to the full-year land revenues in 2012.