China plans to limit the building of villas, golf courses and other luxury projects in an effort to protect the environment and prevent wasteful investments, the government said.

The restrictions are among a list of targets issued by authorities calling on local officials to encourage promising industries such as telecoms while discouraging businesses that waste energy and other resources.

The building restrictions are meant to limit "blind investment" and protect the environment, Liu Zhi, director of the National Reform and Development Commission's Department of Industrial Policy, said at a news conference.

The government is trying to rein in a building boom that may fuel inflation and leave China littered with unneeded shopping malls, luxury housing and other projects, threatening banks if developers default on loans.

The government has issued a series of bans in recent years on the building of golf courses, warning that they are wasting scarce water and farmland.

Liu said the government will continue its efforts to put a brake on excessive investment in 10 sectors.

Tightened rules governing land and cash supplies will be implemented in these sectors from the beginning of next year, said Liu.

In other areas, Liu said investment mania has been evident in the ferroalloy, coke, calcium carbide, automobile and copper smelting sectors.

He also said overproduction was a possibility in the cement, electricity, coal and textile sectors.

Among priorities in the coming year, the government has listed investment projects including coal exploration and hydropower plant construction.

(Shenzhen Daily December 23, 2005)