SHENZHEN — South China's Shenzhen city in Guangdong province on Thursday introduced new rules to tighten pre-sale requirements and prioritize completed-home sales of commercial housing projects.

Under the new rules, residential projects built on land plots with sale announcements published after Aug 28 may launch pre-sales only once buildings reach full structural topping out.

For such new projects, if developers fail to deliver homes on schedule, buyers may terminate deposit contracts, and developers must refund deposits and bear contractual liabilities.

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Prior to Shenzhen, cities such as Shanghai and Beijing also issued similar guidelines requiring new commercial housing projects to complete main-structure topping-out before applying for pre-sale permits and prioritize completed-home sales.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development held a media conference on Sept 18, stating that China's property market has seen major changes in supply and demand and entered a new phase increasingly centered on existing housing stock.