(Yicai Global) Dec. 6 -- China's regulatory authorities recently issued a guidance document for the construction of characteristic towns, demanding that the tendency of real estate development in the construction of characteristic towns should be strictly controlled to avoid aggravating the government debt risks and damaging the ecological environment.

The document requires all regions to follow the law, control the quantity and quality, and reflect the regional differences and diversity in the construction of such towns. They should not blindly develop for the performance evaluation and other factors, resulting in the development of characteristic towns being identical, the Shanghai Securities News reported today.

Regulators also asked local governments and enterprises not to develop real estate projects in the name of characteristic towns, demanding strict control over the use of land. The document also warns local authorities against aggravating local government debt burden and destruction of ecology.

Since October, nearly 50 A-share listed companies have unveiled projects related to characteristic towns involving various sectors and industries including film and television, exhibition, medicine, fashion and robotics. The construction of characteristic towns is expected to trigger substantial investments worth trillions of yuan, observers estimate.

The concept of characteristic town was originated in Yunqi Town in East China's Zhejiang province, where a cluster of cloud computing industries have been built since 2004 with the support of China's e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. [NYSE:BABA]. At present, characteristic towns have become an important strategy for China to implement supply-side structural reforms and achieve economic restructuring and upgrading.