Shanghai-based Greenland Group is building a residential and hotel development in Sydney while another Chinese developer, China Vanke, is building a project in San Francisco, as the country's real estate investors continue to invest heavily outside of China, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Greenland Group said earlier this month said it bought the project from Canadian firm Brookfield Asset Management Inc. for $(AUS) 107.5 million (US$111.4 million), the report noted. Zhang Yuliang, chairman of Greenland, said the company also is considering investing in the U.S. West Coast. "We are interested in places where there are many Chinese people," he said.
Chinese citizens are keen to invest in real estate abroad in order to get overseas residency permits. However, the trend the Chinese developers have spotted is not entirely new.
Chinese buyers also spent $7 billion on US real estate in 2011, according to the National Association of Realtors. Even back then, it seems, government officials and wealthy businesspeople were shunting money out of China in preparation for the country's leadership transition.
Chinese property deals abroad rose sharply last year to $1.86 billion from $547 million in 2011 and $90 million in 2010, according to data from Dealogic.
Excluding Hong Kong, deals last year totaled $450 million, a 46 percent jump from 2011. Dealogic didn't factor in deals smaller than $100 million unless they made up the acquisition of at least a 5 percent stake.
