BEIJING - China's State Council, the Cabinet, has sent eight inspection teams to 16 province-level regions to supervise the implementation of the central government's policies to control home prices.

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The teams were sent to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and 10 other regions since the beginning of April to inspect the progress of affordable housing construction and policies targeting property price curbs.

This was the latest move made by China's central government to rein in soaring housing prices, a primary source of public complaint in major Chinese cities.

The central government began issuing new policies at the beginning of 2010 to ease soaring property prices, including instituting higher requirements for down payments and higher mortgage rates as well as suspending loans to buyers of third homes.

In February, the prices of new homes rose in 68 out of the 70 major cities covered by the national price survey.