BEIJING - In the latest salvo aimed at its property market, China is getting ready to launch a real estate investment tool that will give investors an alternative to bricks and mortar, and move to cool a market where prices have risen at the fastest pace in five years.

Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) could be launched in the mainland by the second half with the first offerings limited to domestic investors and traded on the interbank market - unlike other typically listed REITs in markets such as Australia and Singapore.

The launch of the pilot REITs comes as Beijing, determined to rein in frothy property prices, rolled out a slate of measures, warning banks against extending loans for property speculation, ordering local governments to act to control speculative buying and making it tougher to buy second homes.