Unveiled in mid-September by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE), the new rule allows overseas buyers to use converted currency for down payments immediately after signing a purchase agreement, before submitting the home purchase registration certificate from Chinese real estate authorities.
Previously, the practice in many Chinese cities required buyers to first obtain a registration certificate before they could initiate a down payment. But sellers must collect the down payment before filing with real estate authorities, creating a Catch-22 for both parties.
