I live in the UK. I'd like to buy a property in china as the growing
economy there suggests it could be a good investment.

What are the property prices in china?
Where is the best place to buy for investment? (Increase in property value)
What are the potential risks?
What companies exist to help overseas clients buying property?
How easy would it be to rent the property out?
What issues exist for securing a mortgage on an overseas property
(would I need to use a lender based in china or at home?)

Where in China are you interested in buying?  What type of money do
you have to invest?

You GOTTA be kidding, unless you have a 50,000,000 "man" army to
dispute it, all the land in China belongs to the People's Republic of
China at this time.

Before investing in real estate it helps to have a legal structure
which recognizes private property and actually has a judicial system
which might, just possibly, uphold your claims.

Why not try some STABLE country such as Russia where you get to keep
property unless it becomes too profitable?

How about some swamp land in Florida? at least it really exists, the
only problem is that it is under water.

HI, you want a lot for $ 15.  
But I don't agree entirely with Siliconsamurai-ga.  I don't think
everything belongs to the PR of China.  Around Shanghai there are
billboards advertising homes (or home lots) and I expect wealthy
Chinese do buy them with the assurance that they have real ownership,
but I also expect that a foreigner could and should have some
apprehensions.  You probably aren't interested in that kind of
property anyway.

Last I heard, the Bank of China was restricting property investment in
general. I would assume this means an especially focused crack down on
foreign investment in the sector.

BoC fears foreign "hot money" enough as it is... I would doubt you'll
be able to get the capital into China to make a purchase.

With all due respect, what myoarin says is entirely true, you CAN have
private property in China, at this moment - the problem is that it is
a dictatorship and if something looks to be valuable the government
will simply change the rules and you have ASBOLUTELY  NO recourse if
they tax you out of existence or simply confiscate your property -
just WHO are you going to turn to for help against China?

What it boils down to is that, unless you actually become a member of
the Chinese Communist Party's equivalent of the Politbureau, you have
precisely ZERO guaranteed rights in mainland China, and, as a
practical matter, only limited rights even then.

My basis for such a blanket statement is a long time friendship with
some one who served as both the assistant to the DDO and assistant to
the DDI at the CIA.

There are some GREAT investments you can make in China, but not in
real estate as long as any and all rights can be voided at a whim.

Probably the best current investment is to simply look at the energy
demand in China and buy oil/coal investments in other parts of the
world entirely since it is a global supply/demand situation.

I'll agree with that.  If you think that the Chinese are going to have
the Yuan (currency) float instead of keeping it tied the US $, Chinese
securities could be interesting, or a forward exchange contract,
risky, but not as risk as buying land.  "Unbuilt" land at that
distance would be a problem, since you would be at a great
disadvantage if someone just moved in (look at the question on "nine
points of the law"), and dependable and trustworthy management of
buildings would be too,
-- as it can be everywhere (to sooth Chinese feelings).