China Vanke Co., the country's largest property developer by market value, said Thursday its sales revenue in February dropped 35.4 percent from a year earlier amid government moves to cool the housing market.

In a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Vanke said its sales totaled 2.51 billion yuan (367 million U.S. dollars) in February on the back of the 211,000 square meters of floor space sold, a 59.1-percent fall from the same period last year.

Shares of Vanke Co. fell 1.98 percent to 9.39 yuan on Thursday.

The developer's 2009 net profit rose 32 percent year on year as China's property market experienced a strong rebound last year, according to its annual business report released on Monday.

Figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed China's home prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities rose 1.5 percent in 2009.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said last Saturday he was determined to tame the "wild-horse" housing market and keep prices at a reasonable level within his term as Premier.