BIZCHINA / Top Biz News
Overeas investors bullish on property
(Shanghai Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-07 15:12
Citigroup Inc's property unit plans to increase its investment in Chinese
mainland's real estate market tenfold to US$800 million in the next three
years, a senior company official said yesterday in Shanghai.
"We will buy all types of properties including office, retail and
industrial properties in China." Stephen Coyle, chief investment
strategist at Citigroup Property Investors, said in a real estate finance
conference.
Citigroup last year spent more than US$50 million for a 75 percent stake
in Novel Plaza, an office tower located in Shanghai's downtown area, as
its first move in the mainland's estate market.
The company joins rivals such as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs Group
Inc in seeking investment opportunities in the nation's booming property
industry, where demand for offices, shops and homes has been fueled by
strong economic growth.
Some industry observers have attributed the housing price surge in big
cities such as Shanghai and Beijing partly to the increasing inflow of
overseas capital to the mainland's real estate industry.
Domestic newspapers were peppered with stories recently speculating that
authorities will enact new policies targeting overseas capital.
"We expect tighter approval procedures for overseas investments in
properties and restrictions on overseas financing for local investment
vehicles used to acquire existing properties." Ma Jun, an economist with
Deutsche Bank AG, said in a research note after China's government
announced a string of regulatory measures on May 29.
The measures unveiled last week, including higher taxes down payments on
housing transactions, didn't address the overseas investment sector.
Stanley Chan, managing director of Stanley & Partners Investment
Management Co Ltd, however, said overseas investment in the mainland
accounted only for 1.15 percent of the 1.8 trillion yuan (US$225 billion)
in property sales last year and would hardly affect housing prices.
Gu Yunchang, vice president of China Real Estate Housing Research
Association, said due to the absence of financing tools such as real
estate investment trusts, individual domestic investors lose the
opportunity to put their money in top-quality properties on the mainland.
Overseas institutional investors now acquire these income-producing
properties first and than inject them into REITs to be sold to overseas
capital markets such as Hong Kong and Singapore.
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
Most Popular Stories in 48 Hours
� Baihetan hydropower station approved
� Godfather of information industry
� Case against man-bags
� Luxury cars are big boys' toys
� Full speed ahead for Shanghai express
Today's Top News
� Chinese cabinet okays draft anti-monopoly law
� 55 dead as storms continue in S. China
� China reports new bird flu case
� Bush: Immigrants must adopt US values
� Official: SCO not an eastern version of NATO
Top Biz News
� IPR protection strengthened, EU told
� Cabinet okays draft anti-monopoly law
� China eases restriction on foreign investment
� Nuke fusion reactor gives a headstart
� China, Arab nations sign action plan
Alibaba is the largest B2B marketplace in the world. Source model ship,
wooden puzzle, one-piece toilet, RC hovercraft, photo album, prom dress,
pocket bike, Vaginal Speculum, Samurai Sword, String Panty and PVC Pipe.
Chinese Mandarin
