Beijing's new rules allow banks to further raise the down-payment requirements for apartment buyers and raise interest rates on mortagages.

The central bank has increased interest rates three times since October, and hiked the banks' reserve requirement ratio seven times since the start of last year.

The new rules also allow the municipal government to allocate more land for government-subsidized affordable housing and small commercial apartments. Affordable homes will account for half the total land designated for new apartments in the city.

The government will provide at least 100,000 affordable apartments and give housing subsidies to 20,000 low-income families this year. Low and medium-income families can start applying for about 10,000 low-rent apartments at the end of the year.

The new rules adopted economic, administrative, tax and legal methods to restrain housing prices, which showed the determination of the municipal government, said Chen Zhi, deputy secretary-general of Beijing Real Estate Association.

Soaring prices are a major concern for urban Chinese who are increasingly finding homes unaffordable. Prices in some major cities, such as Beijing, have more than doubled over the past two years due to easy credit and low lending rates.

One square meter in a new apartment in Beijing on average cost 20,000 yuan last year. But the square meter price for apartments within the Third Ring Road, the central urban area, exceeded 30,000 yuan, more than 10 times the monthly income of an average Beijing resident.