China increased land supply this year and stepped up the scrutiny of real estate investments by foreign companies as it rolls out more measures to contain 18 months of gains in property prices, Bloomberg News reported Thursday. 

China's land supply rose 48 percent to 128,200 hectares in the first 11 months, while sites for residential developments surged 51 percent, the Land and Resources Ministry said in a statement.

The Commerce Ministry ordered local authorities to halt the approval of some foreign property investments to curb speculative buying, it said in a Nov 22 statement.

Home prices in 70 Chinese cities climbed 7.7 percent in November from a year earlier, even after the government raised borrowing costs for the first time in three years, suspended mortgages for third-home purchases and pledged to introduce a property tax, the report said, adding that sales volume also jumped 15 percent.

Related readings:  Rising land prices  Stop illegal use of land  China curbs excessive growth in land price  Officials feeling pressure over illegal land use

"The pace for land acquisitions in the private sector will slow next year," the report cited Johnson Hu, a Shanghai-based property analyst at UOB Kay Hian Investment Co. "The government is tightening lending on one hand, but on the other, it's launching new land supplies," Hu said.