CHINA provided 56,000 hectares of land for residential use in the first six months of 2010, up 135 percent over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

A significant increase in the availability of land for housing was reported in areas such as Guizhou Province, Beijing, Jiangxi Province, Heilongjiang Province and the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, the ministry said on its website over the weekend.

The land and resources management departments at various levels have been working hard to ensure land supplies, especially for relocated housing, public rental housing and small and medium apartments, it said.

The departments will work hard to ensure land supplies for public residential purposes, the statement added.

China implemented a series of measures to rein in soaring home prices and curb property market speculation in April. These included tighter scrutiny of applications for financing, limiting of loans for third-home purchases and higher down payments.

Latest data indicated that average housing prices in 70 major cities fell 0.1 percent in June from May.