A Round-up of China's Real Estate Market and Construction Sector in 2018

3 . WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT REAL ESTATE REGULATIONS AND POLICIES ISSUED IN 2018?

The major regulations and policies issued mainly center on real estate market control, construction of rental housing, reform of the project bid invitation and submission system, the construction project examination and approval system, and the revitalization of rural land resources as listed below:

(1) the Circular on Issues Relevant to Further Improving Adjustment of the Control on the Real Estate Market issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-rural Development (MOHURD) on May 19, 2018;

(2) the Circular on the Work Associated with Promoting Rental Housing Asset Securitization issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and MOHURD from April to May 2018;

(3) the Circular on Matters Relevant to the Participation of Insurance Capital in the Long-term Lease Market issued by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC);

(4) the Provisions for Construction Projects the Invitation of Bids for Which is Mandatory and the Provisions on the Scope of Infrastructure and Public Utilities Projects the Invitation of Bids for Which is Mandatory issued by the National Development and Reform Commission on March 27 and June 6, 2018;

(5) the Circular on Launching a Pilot Project for Reforming the Examination and Approval System for Construction Projects issued by the General Office of the State Council on May 14, 2018;

(6) the Supreme People's Court, Interpretation on the Issue of the Application of the Law in the Trial of Construction Project Contract Dispute Cases (2) adopted by the Supreme People's Court on October 29, 2018; and

(7) with regards to the revitalization of rural land resources, a series of policies on the utilization of various types of idle real estate facilities and collective construction land to develop rental properties has been issued.

4 . WHAT ARE THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET?

With the change in the macroeconomic environment, the series of restrictive regulations and policies implemented by China beginning in 2006 targeting foreign investment in the real estate sector have largely been relaxed or abolished. Current policies welcome and encourage such foreign investment. The current down swing in the market and the relatively low exchange rate are presenting foreign investors with a relatively good investment opportunity, with a large number of projects to choose from.

5 . HOW HAS THE BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION MARKET IN CHINA?

The Belt and Road Initiative has stimulated demand for the development of public infrastructure and ancillary facilities such as urban housing and commercial real estate in countries along the Belt and Road, thus, in theory, it could open up new markets for the Chinese real estate and construction sector and expand development opportunities.

However, as the Belt and Road strategy is still in its infancy, more projects are concentrated in the infrastructure construction sector. Therefore, those benefiting the most now from the Belt and Road strategy are construction enterprises. Chinese real estate developers are still just testing the waters when it comes to investment in offshore real estate along the Belt and Road and, at the moment, their investment strategies are quite prudent. The large-scale upsurge to invest and develop abroad along the Belt and Road has yet to take shape.

6 . WHAT IS THE TREND ON POLICY RESTRICTIONS AND CONTROLS FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS IN THIS SECTOR?

By investing in real estate in China, foreign investors currently face three main restrictions: (1) the “commercial existence” principle, i.e. a foreign investor wishing to invest in a real estate project in China must establish a foreign-invested real estate enterprise in China; (2) the “project company system” principle, i.e. each foreign-invested real estate enterprise that a foreign investor establishes may only develop or hold one real estate project; and (3) the restrictions on foreign-debt financing of foreign-invested real estate enterprises.

Generally, the treatment of foreign-invested real estate enterprises is essentially identical to that of domestic real estate enterprises, and in some cities where the pressure to bring in investment is relatively great, foreign-invested real estate enterprises may even be entitled to certain policy preferences and conveniences. Unless a major change in the macroeconomic environment occurs and large sums of foreign speculative hot money flows into the domestic real estate market, there will be no major change in China's policies on foreign investors investing in domestic real estate in the short term.

7 . HOW HAVE CHINA'S NEW PROPERTY TAX AND PROPERTY TIGHTENING MEASURES INTRODUCED EARLIER THIS YEAR AFFECTED THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY? CAN YOU PROVIDE SOME EXAMPLES?

The real estate tax policy has not really been implemented and levied this year, and we anticipate that it will not be implemented in the near future. Its impact on the real estate industry is pending until it is implemented by government authorities.

The real estate tightening measures, with the “five restrictions” (restriction on purchase, restriction on loans, restriction on price, restriction on sales and restriction on commercial office buildings) at their core, have had a relatively large impact on the real estate industry in 2018, with prices, on the whole, holding steady with a declining trend, and the real estate market showing a downward adjustment trend. For real estate enterprises, the above control policies are exposing them to a dual risk, with declining sales and financing difficulties making funding tight. Real estate enterprises are required to take multiple measures to respond to the risks, e.g., Vanke has adopted a price reduction promotion strategy for a property in Xiamen to accelerate payments, while China Fortune Land Development has brought in strategic investment from the Ping An Group and sold more than 10 real estate projects in the vicinity of Beijing to Vanke to resolve its shortage of funds.

8 . WHAT ARE SOME OF THE REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTIONS TAXATION POLICIES ISSUED IN 2018, AND HOW WILL THIS IMPACT CHINA'S PROPERTY MARKET?

The main one is the circular jointly issued by the Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation on April 4, 2018 that reduces the value-added tax rate on the construction industry from 11% to 10% commencing from May 1, 2018. This tax policy is essentially still based on further implementing the policy of moving from the business tax to the value-added tax and deepening the reform of the value-added tax system, and it is not specifically targeted at the real estate and construction industries. To a certain extent, it will have a positive impact on reducing the inventory in the commercial real estate market, but its actual impact may be limited.

9 . WHAT IS THE CURRENT TREND OF PRIVATE EQUITY INFLOW IN REAL ESTATE IN CHINA, AND WHAT ARE THE POLICIES REGULATING IT?

As the financing through bank loans secured by developers is subject to few restrictions, the offering size and the number of real estate private equity investment fund offerings have increased rapidly in recent years. However, with the issuance of government regulatory measures, private equity investment funds in the real estate industry face increasingly stricter regulation, in terms of the ratio of equity investment amount to debt financing amount, the leverage ratio, custodian and other related matters, will greatly slow the flow of funds into the real estate industry.

The major regulatory policy faced by real estate private equity investment funds now is the Guidelines for the Administration of the Record Filing of Private Asset Management Plans, No. 4 (Order No.4) issued by the Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) in February 2017, which provide that record filing of products that directly or indirectly invest in ordinary housing real estate projects in hotspot cities where real estate prices are rising too quickly will be denied for the time being, and prohibits private investment products from providing financing to developers for the purpose of paying the land grant premium, providing working capital with no clear purpose, as well as facilitating unlawful acts such as directly or indirectly extending to various organizations loans for down payments. On April 27, 2018, the People's Bank of China, CBIRC, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly issued the Guiding Opinions on Regulating the Asset Management Business of Financial Institutions (the New Rules), mainly addressing multi-level nesting, unclear leverage, serious arbitrage, frequent speculation and other such issues in the asset management business, and set forth uniform standards to guard against the accumulation and transmission of risks in the asset management business.

10 . CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE BOND MARKET FOR THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR, AND THE REASONS FOR ITS GROWTH IN CHINA RECENTLY?

In the Chinese construction market, it has become increasingly common for owners to require contractors to provide a performance bond, with a preference for independent bank demand guarantees. This development in the guarantee market may be due to two reasons: (1) the government has been consistently promoting the replacement of performance deposits by performance bonds and, according to the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating Promotion of the Implementation of a Project Security System (Draft for Comments) issued by MOHURD in July 2018, the government, in future, may require contractors for privately invested housing projects to submit a performance bond; and (2) with the implementation of the Supreme People's Court, Provisions on Several Issues Concerning the Trial of Independent Guarantee Dispute Cases, the validity of independent guarantees has a clear legal footing.

However, it should be noted that, in certain areas, if the contractor submits a performance bond, the regulator also requires the owner to provide a project payment guarantee.

11 . WHAT DO FOREIGN INVESTORS NEED TO KNOW AND COMPLY WITH WHEN CARRYING OUT CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN CHINA?

(1) If a foreign investor proposes to engage a contractor for a project in China, it needs to pay particular attention to:

(a) the requirements in respect of the entity: as mentioned above regarding the “commercial existence” and “project company system” principles, a foreign investor may not directly engage a contractor for a domestic project in its capacity as a foreign entity, but is required instead to establish a foreign-invested construction enterprise in China;

(b) the method of awarding contract: when determining the method of awarding the project contract, a foreign investor needs to pay attention to the requirement in China prohibiting the splitting up of a contract, i.e. the smallest unit that the owner can contract out is a single works (with respect to a building construction project, a single free standing building should in general be treated as a single works, including its foundation, main structure and other eight large sections); thus, an owner should award the contract for a single work to one construction entity, and may not break it up into smaller parts and award the contracts of such parts to different construction entities;

(c) the market environment: with respect to the current Chinese construction market, the strategy generally adopted by contractors is to secure a project at a relatively low price and make a profit during the course of construction by lodging claims, i.e. “winning the contract at a low price, lodging claims at a high price”; to reduce such a risk, an owner may take the following measures: (i) many claims arise from unclear contract provisions, thus, those matters that easily give rise to claims (e.g. the circumstances under which the construction period can be extended and the method of calculating losses from work stoppages) should be clearly specified in the contract; and (ii) for claims lodged by the contractor in the course of construction, the owner should duly carry out the work of collecting and organizing the relevant project documentation and carefully reply in a timely manner so as to create evidence favorable to its side.

(2) If a foreign investor proposes to be engaged as a contractor for a project in China, it needs to pay particular attention to:

(a) the requirements in respect of the entity: a foreign investor must not directly serve as contractor for a domestic project in the capacity of a foreign entity, but is required instead to establish a foreign invested construction enterprise in China, which includes establishing a wholly foreign-owned enterprise by a foreign entity as the sole investor or establishing either a Sino-foreign equity joint venture or Sino-foreign cooperative joint venture by a foreign entity with a domestic enterprise; if the foreign entity opts for a Sino-foreign equity joint venture or Sino-foreign cooperative joint venture, the capital contribution by the domestic enterprise may not account for less than 25% of the registered capital;

(b) the scope of contract: if a foreign investor opts to establish a wholly foreign-owned enterprise, it can only contract for projects in which the entire investment is from abroad or for projects that cannot be independently contracted for by Chinese enterprises due to technical difficulties; it is our understanding that foreign investors establish wholly foreign-owned enterprises mainly for the purpose of contracting for projects internally invested by their enterprise group (e.g. office buildings for own use, industrial plant buildings, etc.);

(c) qualification requirements: China exercises strict administration over project construction qualifications; regardless of the form, before contracting for a project, a foreign-invested enterprise is required to secure construction enterprise qualifications, and construct strictly within the scope of its qualification grade permit; with respect to the personnel, track record requirements and permitted project contracting scope for applicants for the different grades of qualifications, foreign-invested enterprises are subject to the same standards as those for domestic enterprises.

12 . WHAT ARE SOME OF THE MEASURES TAKEN TO STRENGTHEN THE ADMINISTRATION OF MORTGAGE POLICIES AND CONTROL LOAN RISKS?

In order to complement macroeconomic control at the funding end, the government has strengthened administrative measures mainly at the real estate mortgage registration stage, including by unifying and integrating land and building mortgage registration under real estate registration affairs centers, and continuously promoting transparency in the procedures and requirements for mortgage registration procedures by means such as online disclosure.

In terms of controlling loan risks, CBIRC issued a circular on January 13, 2018 further intensifying the work of rectifying problems in the banking market, such as violations of credit policies, and violations of real estate industry policies, and further strengthening the rectification and oversight of the bank loan business. Furthermore, online and private lending have also been brought within the scope of rectification. Since May 2018, the People's Bank of China, CBIRC and other such authorities have issued a series of documents regulating online and private lending and carried out rectification work, including regulating private lending acts and conducting compliance examinations of P2P online lending institutions.

13 . WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR THE REAL ESTATE AND CONSTRUCTION SECTOR IN 2019 FOR BOTH LOCAL AND FOREIGN INVESTORS?

In a situation characterized by strong government control and a relatively severe economic environment, we anticipate that the real estate market in 2019 will remain on the whole steady with minimal volatility. With the gradual relaxation of the housing market development, medical, commercial, office and other service type real estate will become the focus of development.

Although the impact of the real estate industry on the construction industry is quite large, with expectations that investment in infrastructure will increase, we anticipate that, on the whole, development will be relatively steady. The government has to date issued 22 sets of regulations, drafts for comments, circulars ad measures, to further regulate the development of China's construction industry. However, with the increasingly severe competition in the construction industry, the industrial transformation and upgrading of the industry is imperative.

According to MOHURD's 13th Five-year Plan for the Development of the Construction Industry (2016-2020), the objective of adjusting the industrial structure in the construction industry is to promote the improvement and strengthening of large construction enterprises so as to give rise to a number of leading enterprises that integrate development and construction, provide project consulting services throughout the whole process, have general contracting as their main business and are leading in technology and management; among which, it is likely that the provision of project consulting services throughout the whole process and general contracting will become the focus of the construction industry in 2019. When compared to Chinese enterprises, foreign investors have already begun offering these services and have advantages in terms of service standards and professional capabilities; therefore, if they can familiarize themselves with local project rules and practice in China, there is a strong possibility that they can continue to grow their business and obtain good returns.

Han Hao, Partner

Zhong Lun Law Firm

Mr Han Hao graduated from the Nankai University Law School in 1994 and has since been practicing law for more than 20 years with a PRC attorney qualification. Mr Hao focuses on the development and construction of real estate, the establishment and investment of private equity, structured financing and dispute resolution, including providing legal advice for real estate enterprises on comprehensive land development (PPP), land consolidation, establishment of project companies, mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment, development and construction of real estate project, sales, building management, rental business and operations of office buildings/malls, bulk property transactions, listing and structured financing of real estate enterprises, establishment of private equity funds and their investment and financing, as well as representing local and international clients before courts and arbitration tribunals regarding real estate disputes.

He regularly acts as the legal counsel for many well-known local real estate developers including Longfor Group, China Fortune Land Development, Cinda Real Estate, CITS Investment, SOHO China Ltd. and China Central Place. In addition, Mr Hao provides legal advice on domestic merger and acquisition projects for local and international private equity firms including Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank, CDH PE, IDG Capital, Wantong Real Estate PE, CITIC PE and CITIC Trust.

Jiong Zhang, Partner

Zhong Lun Law Firm

Mr Jiong Zhang is a partner of Zhong Lun Law Firm. He graduated from the Beijing Foreign Studies University (BA) and Renmin University of China (LLM) and has been practicing law for more than 15 years with a PRC attorney qualification. Mr Zhang focuses on all aspects of real estate, construction and infrastructure, and has extensive experience in construction project bidding and bid invitation, engineering management, project settlement risk control and dispute resolution, etc. He also participated in a lot of litigation and arbitration cases in respect of matters including engineering construction contracts.

In 2014-2018, Mr Zhang has been consecutively awarded by Chambers and Partners as a leading lawyer in the construction law area of China. In 2018, he was awarded as a 'Dispute Resolution Star' in the construction law area by the Benchmark Litigation. In 2016, he was highly recommended in the construction law area by The Legal 500 – Asia Pacific. In 2013 and 2015, he was voted as one of “China's 60 most recommended construction lawyers” by the ENR/Construction Times. In 2014, Mr Zhang was awarded the title of Chartered Construction Manager by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB). In 2014, he was named as one of China's top rising lawyers by Asian Legal Business. In 2013, he was recommended as an “up-and-coming construction lawyer in China” and one of the “Asia-Pacific outstanding younger partners” by Chambers and Partners. In 2013, Mr Zhang was awarded the title of Chartered Builder by the CIOB and qualifying as a Chartered Member of the Institute (MCIOB).

1 . 2018年有哪些最具影响力的房地产交易？

根据我们的观察，2018年的中国大陆地区出现了一批以资产包为标的具有代表性和影响力的大宗交易，比如融创中国以62.81亿元的对价收购万达文旅板块控股股权、印力联合万科和Triwater以83.65亿元收购凯德商用20个购物中心、万科以32.34亿元的对价收购华夏幸福十多个环京地产项目、卓越集团以51.0248亿元收购广物地产45%股权及债权、禹洲地产以38亿元收购沿海家园7个项目的交易。信达地产以人民币78.33亿元的对价收购淮矿地产全部股权的交易也很有代表性，交易价格超过信达地产当前市值，是备受瞩目的 “蛇吞象”式并购交易。

2 . 房地产投资者的主要融资渠道是什么？

由于长期以来的宏观调控政策，开发商通过公开资本市场的通道一直处于“封闭”状态。自2017年开始实行“去杠杆”政策以来，国内的开发商获取银行贷款的空间也进一步缩小，房地产债券融资通道也处于半关闭状态，只有一些大型央企、国企尚可发行相关房地产债券产品。在前述大环境下，通过地产合作开发、夹层融资、信托融资、私募基金融资及资产证券化是开发商主要的融资渠道。整体而言，非国资背景的开发商面临的融资环境不容乐观。

3 . 2018年房地产领域发布的一些最重要的法规和政策有哪些？

2018年房地产领域发布的重要法规、政策主要集中在房地产市场调控、租赁住房建设、工程招投标制度改革、建设工程审批制度及盘活农村土地资源等方面，主要为：

(1)住建部于2018年5月19日发布的《关于进一步做好房地产市场调控工作有关问题的通知》。

(2)证监会、住建部于2018年4月至5月发布的《关于推进住房租赁资产证券化相关工作的通知》。

(3)银保监会发布的《关于保险资金参与长租市场有关事项的通知》。

(4)国家发改委于2018年3月27日和6月6日，先后颁布的《必须招标的工程项目规定》和《必须招标的基础设施和公用事业项目范围规定》。

(5)国务院办公厅于2018年5月14日发布的《关于开展工程建设项目审批制度改革试点的通知》。

(6)最高人民法院于2018年10月29日通过的《最高人民法院关于审理建设工程施工合同纠纷案件适用法律问题的解释（二）》。

(7)在盘活农村土地资源方面，出台了一系列利用闲置的各类房产设施、集体建设用地发展租赁物业的政策。

4 . 外国投资者在房地产市场上有什么机会？

随着宏观经济环境的变化，自2006年开始中国针对外商投资房地产领域实施的一系列限制性的法规和政策已大为缓解乃至取消，目前的政策对于外商投资持欢迎和鼓励的态度，市场处于下行阶段，汇率也处于较低水平，这对于境外投资人而言是较好的投资机会，有较多的项目供选择。

5 . “ 一带一路”对中国房地产和建筑市场有何贡献？

“一带一路”倡议激发了“一带一路”沿线各国对城市住房、商业地产等社会基础设施及配套设施开发的需求，理论上可以为中国房地产及建筑市场开辟新市场及带来广泛和深远的发展机遇。但同时，由于“一带一路”战略仍处于初期阶段，更多的项目集中在基础设施建设领域，因此目前受惠于“一带一路”战略的大多是建筑企业，中国的房地产开发商对于投资境外“一带一路” 的房地产项目仍处于早期的试水阶段，在投资策略上比较谨慎，尚未形成大规模的境外投资开发热潮。

6 . 这一领域对外国投资者的政策限制和控制趋势如何？

目前外国投资者投资境内房地产面对的主要限制有三个。第一，“商业存在”原则。即境外投资者投资境内房地产项目必须在境内设立外商投资房地产企业。第二，“项目公司制”原则。即境外投资者设立的每一个外商投资房地产企业只能开发或持有一个房地产项目。第三，外商投资房地产企业举借外债受限。

总体而言，外商投资房地产企业已基本和境内房地产企业享有同样待遇，甚至在一些招商引资压力较大的城市，外商投资房地产企业还可以享有一定的政策优惠和便利。除非宏观经济环境发生重大变化，出现大量境外投机性热钱涌入境内房地产市场的情况，短期内中国有关境外投资者投资境内房地产的相关政策不会发生重大变化。

7 . 中国今年早些时候出台的新房产税和房地产紧缩措施对房地产行业有何影响？可否举例说明？

今年房地产税政策并未实际落地和开征，预计房地产税政策将不会在近期落地，其对房地产行业的影响仍有待政府部门公布具体执行措施后予以考量。

今年以“五限（限购、限贷、限价、限售、限商）”为主的房地产紧缩措施已对房地产行业带来了较大影响，房价整体呈现出稳中有降的态势，房地产市场呈现调整向下的趋势。对房地产企业而言，上述调控政策使得房地产企业普遍面临销售下滑和融资困难、资金紧缺的双重风险，房企需要采取多种措施应对风险。比如万科在厦门某楼盘即采取降价促销策略以加速回款，而华夏幸福则通过引进平安集团战略投资和向万科出售环京十多个项目等方式以解决资金紧缺问题。

8 . 2018年有哪些房地产和建设税收政策出台？这将对中国房地产市场产生怎样的影响？

主要是财政部、税务总局于2018年4月4日联合发布通知，自2018年5月1日起，将建筑行业的增值税税率从11%降至10%。上述税收政策基本上仍是基于进一步落实营改增、深化增值税改革的税制改革方针，并不特别针对房地产和建筑行业，在一定程度上会对商业地产市场去库存起到积极作用，但实际影响可能有限。

9 . 目前中国房地产行业私募股权流入的趋势如何，有什么监管政策？

由于开发商通过银行贷款获得融资受到相应的限制，近年来房地产私募股权投资基金的发行规模和发行数量迅速增加。但随着政府监管措施的出台，房地产行业的私募股权投资基金在股权投资金额和债权投资金额的比例、杠杆比例、托管机构及其他相关方面同样面临越来越严格的监管，资金流入房地产行业的速度大幅放缓。

目前房地产私募股权投资基金面临的主要监管政策是中国证券投资基金业协会（“基金业协会”）于2017年2月份颁布的《私募资产管理计划备案管理规范第4号》（“4号令”） ，对直接或间接投资于房地产价格上涨过快热点城市普通住宅地产项目的产品暂不予备案，禁止私募产品向开发商提供融资用于支付土地出让价款、提供无明确用途的流动资金，以及直接或间接为各类机构发放首付贷等违法违规行为提供便利。 2018年4月27日，央行、银保监会、证监会、外汇局联合发布《关于规范金融机构资产管理业务的指导意见》（资管新规），重点针对资管业务的多层嵌套、杠杆不清、套利严重、投机频繁等问题，设定统一的标准规制，防范资管业务风险积累和传递。

10 . 可否介绍一下建筑业履约保函市场的发展情况，以及最近在中国发展的原因吗？

在中国的建筑市场中，业主要求承包人提供履约保函的情形越来越普遍，且倾向见索即付的银行独立保函。对于保函市场的上述发展，可能有两方面原因：（1）政府一直推行以履约保函替代履约保证金，并且根据住房城乡建设部2018年7月《关于加快推进实施工程担保制度的指导意见（征求意见稿）》，政府之后还可能会要求民间投资住宅工程的承包人必须提交履约保函；（2）自2016年12月《最高人民法院关于审理独立保函纠纷案件若干问题的规定》施行后，独立保函的效力有了明确的法律依据。

但需要注意的是，在部分地区，如果承包人提交履约保函，监管部门也要求业主提供工程款支付保函。

11 . 外国投资者在中国进行建设项目需要了解和遵守哪些内容？

(1)如果境外投资者拟在中国境内发包工程，需要重点关注：

第一. 主体要求：如前述提到的“商业存在”和“项目公司制”原则，境外投资者不能以境外主体的身份直接发包境内工程，而需要在境内设立外商投资建筑业企业。

第二. 发包模式：在确定工程发包模式时，境外投资者需要留意中国关于禁止肢解发包的要求，即业主发包工程的最小单位为单位工程（对于房屋建筑工程，一般应将一幢独立的房屋作为一个单位工程，包括其中的地基基础、主体结构等十大分部工程），业主应当将一个单位工程发包给一个施工单位，而不得肢解为若干部分发包给不同的施工单位。

第三. 市场环境：就当前的中国建筑市场，承包人经常采用的策略是以较低的价格取得工程，而通过在施工过程中的索赔获取利润，即“低价中标，高价索赔”，为降低上述风险，业主可采取如下措施：其一，索赔多来自于合同约定不明之处，对于易发生索赔的事项（如工期可以顺延的情形及停窝工损失的计算方法等），合同中最好能清晰约定；其二，在施工过程中，针对承包人提出的索赔，业主应做好相关工程资料的整理收集工作，并及时审慎回复，创造对己方有利的证据。

(2)如果境外投资者拟在中国境内承包工程，需要重点关注：

第一. 主体要求：境外投资者也不能以境外主体的身份直接承包境内工程，而需要在境内设立外商投资建筑业企业，包括由境外主体独资设立的外资企业，以及与境内企业共同设立的中外合资经营企业和中外合作经营企业。如果采用中外合资经营企业或中外合作经营企业，境内企业的出资金额应不低于注册资本的25%。

第二. 承包范围：如果境外投资者选择设立外资企业，则仅能承包全部由外国投资的工程，以及因技术困难不能由中国企业独立承包的工程。根据我们的了解，境外投资者设立外资企业，大多是为了承包集团内部投资的工程（如自建自用的办公楼、工业厂房等）。

第三. 资质要求：中国对工程施工存在严格的资质管理。无论采用哪一种形式，在承包工程前，外商投资企业均需要取得建筑业企业资质，并严格在资质等级许可的范围施工。关于不同等级资质对申请企业的人员、业绩要求及许可的工程承包范围，外商投资企业与境内企业奉行同一标准。

12 . 为加强抵押政策管理和控制贷款风险，采取了哪些措施？

为配合在资金端的宏观调控政策，政府主要在不动产抵押登记办理环节加强了管理措施，包括将土地、房屋抵押登记业务统一整合至不动产登记事务中心、通过网络公开等方式不断推进抵押登记手续办理流程和要求透明化等。

就控制贷款风险方面，2018年1月13日，银保监会发布通知，对违反信贷政策、违反房地产行业政策等银行业市场乱象开展进一步深化整治工作，进一步加强对银行贷款业务的整治和监管。此外，互联网与民间借贷也纳入了专项整治范围，央行、银保监会等部门于2018年5月以来陆续发文对互联网和民间借贷进行规范并开展整治工作，包括规范民间借贷行为、对P2P网络借贷机构开展合规检查等。

13 . 对本地和外国投资者来说，2019年房地产和建筑业的前景如何？

在政府有力调控和经济环境较为严峻的情况下，2019年的房地产市场预计仍将处于总体平缓、波动较小的趋势。随着住宅市场逐渐放缓，医疗、商业、办公等服务型地产将成为发展重点。

建筑行业虽然受房地产行业影响较大，但在基础设施投资增加的预期下，预计整体发展会比较平稳。政府目前已颁布22项关于建筑业法规、征求意见稿、通知、办法等，进一步规范中国建筑业的发展。但随着建筑行业竞争加剧，建筑行业的产业转型升级势在必行。

根据住建部《建筑业发展“十三五”规划（2016-2020）》，建筑业产业结构的调整目标是促进大型建筑企业做优做强，形成一批以开发建设一体化、全过程工程咨询服务、工程总承包为业务主体、技术管理领先的龙头企业。其中，全过程工程咨询和工程总承包，两项业务很可能是2019年建筑行业的热点。相比中国企业，境外投资者开始上述业务的时间较早，在服务标准和专业能力上也具有优势，如果能充分了解中国当地的工程规则和实践，克服“水土不服”，则很有希望继续扩大业务规模，并取得不错的收益。

郝瀚 合伙人

中伦律师事务所

郝瀚律师1994年毕业于南开大学法学系，持有中国律师资格，从业经验超过20年。郝律师的主要执业领域为房地产开发建设、私募基金设立及投资、结构化融资以及争议解决，包括向房地产开发商提供土地综合开发（PPP）、土地整理、项目公司设立、项目并购、外商投资、房地产项目的开发与建设、销售、物业管理、写字楼/商场的租赁经营、大宗物业买卖交易、房地产开发企业的上市和结构性融资、私募投资基金设立及投融资等方面的法律服务，以及在各级法院、仲裁院代理国内外客户进行关于房地产领域争议的诉讼和仲裁案件。

郝律师常年担任龙湖集团、华夏幸福、信达地产、国旅投资、SOHO中国有限公司及华贸中心开发商等众多国内知名开发企业的中国法律顾问，并为摩根斯坦利、美林、德意志银行、鼎晖基金、IDG基金、万通地产基金、中信产业基金、中信信托设立的房地产基金等多家境内外基金提供境内项目并购方面的法律服务。

张炯 合伙人

中伦律师事务所

张炯律师是中伦律师事务所的合伙人，毕业于北京外国语大学和中国人民大学，持有中国律师资格，从业经验超过15年。张律师的法律服务范围涉及房地产、建设工程及基础设施领域各个方面，尤其在建设工程招投标、工程管理、工程结算风险控制和纠纷解决等方面经验丰富。张律师代理了大量与建设工程相关的诉讼和仲裁纠纷。

从2014年至2018年，张律师连续五年被英国法律权威评级机构Chambers and Partners评选为建设工程领域领先级别律师。 2018年，张律师被知名法律评级机构《Benchmark Litigation》评选为建设工程领域的“争议解决之星”。 2016年，张律师获得国际知名法律评级机构The Legal 500亚太地区重点推荐。 2013年和2015年，张律师两度被美国《工程新闻记录》 (ENR）和中国《建筑时报》评选为“中国最值得推荐的60位工程律师”。 2014年，张律师获得英国皇家特许建造学会授予英国皇家特许工程经理 (Chartered Construction Manager），并被国际权威法律评级机构亚洲法律评论 (ALB) 评选为中国十五佳律师新星。 2013年，张律师被英国法律权威评级机构Chambers and Partners评选为“2013年亚太地区杰出年轻合伙人”，并被推荐为中国地区建筑工程法律服务领域最富潜质的律师。 2013年，张律师获得英国皇家特许建造学会正式会员资格 (MCIOB)，并被授予英国皇家建造师 (Chartered Builder)。