Shandong Province released a notice?on Monday?banning small loan companies from lending to real estate companies, according to the province's financial authorities.

A notice issued by the authority said loans already issued should be recovered as soon as possible to mitigate the risks inherent in such loans due to recent curbs on the country’s real estate industry.

Since last year, a series of real estate regulations were used to curb the fast growth of housing prices in certain cities. One put a limit on loans issued for real estate development, boosting demand for private financing.