Property firm China Overseas Land & Investment shrugs aside Beijing funding curbs to acquire Zhuhai plot for record US$1.6 billion
- China Overseas Land & Investment tops plot’s reserve price by 25 per cent
- Company would not miss chance to invest in the city despite Beijing tightening funding for builders, analysts say
Property developer China Overseas Land & Investment (Coli) has shrugged aside tightening government curbs on financing to acquire a residential and commercial plot in Zhuhai for the record sum of 10.5 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion), it said on Wednesday.
The plot can yield 450,000 square metres in gross floor area, of which about 385,000 square metres have been earmarked for homes. The rest of the land has been set aside for commercial use, such as the development of hotels, shopping malls and community facilities.
Coli topped the plot’s reserve price by 25 per cent and smashed a record set by state-backed conglomerate China Metallurgical Group, which bought a 227,800 square metre plot for 5.01 billion yuan three years ago.
The developer is betting on upbeat sentiment surrounding Zhuhai, which is part of Beijing’s Greater Bay Area development zone. Analysts said it would not miss the chance to invest in the city despite Beijing tightening funding for builders.
“Such a high premium and the large sum shows that Coli has confidence in Zhuhai’s development,” said Pan Hao, senior analyst with Ke.com Research, a unit of US-listed Chinese online property portal Ke Holdings.
The smallest of the nine cities in Guangdong province that come under the Greater Bay Area, Zhuhai saw its per capita gross domestic product rise to 175,500 yuan last year, second only to Shenzhen among its mainland bay area peers. Home prices have almost tripled over the past decade and fetched 26,000 yuan per square metre in October.
