(Yicai Global) Aug. 23 -- China Vanke and Sunac China Holdings are among major Chinese property developers saying that they will stop bidding for land use rights being auctioned by local governments as the financing situation gets tougher, the China Securities Journal reported.

In a bid to curb lending to the nation's overheated real estate sector, regulators further tightened loans and open market financing for developers in May, while more restrictions were made for trusts and overseas bond issuance in July.

The financial squeeze is unprecedented, Sunac President Sun Hongbin said at his company's earnings press conference yesterday. The Tianjin-based firm stopped buying land rights at the end of April and has no plans to do so for the rest of the year. He expects the harsh environment to hit demand for land and real estate sales.

Eight developers have spent just CNY3 billion (USD424 million) on land purchases so far this month, data from Centaline Property Agency show. For the January-July period, spending fell 28 percent to CNY479.5 billion from a year earlier, according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics. The sale of land rights is an important source of income for local governments.

Vanke, the country's biggest developer by market capitalization, has no firm plans to buy land use rights, Chief Operating Officer Zhang Xu said at its earnings press briefing on Aug. 21. Shenzhen-based Vanke will buy them based on potential returns and will avoid acquiring any in China's third-, fourth- and fifth-tier cities.

Guangzhou R&F Properties President Li Silian has suggested that his firm defer from buying land in the second half, although high-quality projects could be an exception, he said in a statement yesterday.