China's housing regulator yesterday urged efforts to crack down on malpractice by real estate agents and developers amid a fresh round of measures to cool the property market.

Local authorities were required to act strongly against monopolistic practices, market manipulation, creating misleading expectations through rumor-mongering and providing false certificates, said a statement from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Regulators should also continue to look into down payment loans and other illegal housing financing tools, the statement said.

The ministry criticized 30 real estate agencies and developers for flouting market rules.