Mahathir Mohamad, prime minister of Malaysia, on Monday said that apartments in a China-backed property project in the country's Johor state will not be sold to foreign nationals. 

Monday's statements come as the prime minister ramps up a push-back against Chinese projects in Malaysia, which he has defined as "unequal treaties." The ruling coalition has already suspended about $24bn in Chinese-backed infrastructure projects, including the East Coast Rail Link and three oil and gas pipelines.

This is not the first blow Mr Mahathir has dealt to Forest City, the $100bn township project developed by Guangdong-based Country Garden Holdings. He criticised the project back in 2017 and again during his political campaign, before ousting Najib Razak in elections in May.