China’s Ministry of Construction released new guidelines on March 2 to “curb the trend” of using foreign design firms on large public buildings, especially landmark structures. The ministry says it wants to encourage development of its domestic design industry, according to Xinhua, the state-run news service. The ministry was critical of some extravagant foreign designs, which it claims leads to excessively high construction and operation costs. Among other items, guidelines require new projects to follow stricter energy-saving standards and preserve local cultural features.