BEIJING, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Government officials in five Chinese cities were asked to step up regulation to contain housing market speculation after house prices in the cities saw rapid rises recently.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Friday held talks with officials in the cities of Haikou, Sanya, Yantai, Yichang and Yangzhou, urging them to further implement housing control measures, according to the ministry.

The talks reiterated that "houses are for living in, not for speculation" and required local officials to take measures such as increasing effective housing supplies and encouraging renting to contain housing prices.

China's property market remained generally stable in July thanks to continued government control measures, with new house prices in four first-tier cities rising at a slower pace compared with June, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

However, house prices in smaller cities have seen notable increases. Haikou saw new houses prices increase 2.3 percent month-on-month in July, while in Sanya prices jumped by 3.7 percent compared with June.

Officials of the five cities pledged to improve control measures to ensure a stable housing market, according to the ministry.