[HONG KONG] China's Poly Real Estate Group has received regulatory approval to price a Beijing project at a record high of almost 100,000 yuan (S$20,000) per square metre, signalling an easing on pricing policy for developers in the capital, a local report said yesterday.

Last month, seven projects in Beijing that received selling approval had planned to set prices above 40,000 yuan, a cap that the local authority set last November, China's national business daily added. The cap made developers less interested in bidding for expensive land in the city.

Any move to drive up home prices in China, which are already near record levels, can be controversial. The central government would prefer that local authorities help curb property speculation because it fears unaffordable property prices could cause social unrest.