The group's accurate assessment of the market trend, together with its enhanced operational efficiency, have contributed to Kaisa's contracted sales growth by 114 per cent year-on-year to 6.02 billion yuan, with 77 per cent of the sales of 4.66 billion yuan coming from the Pearl River Delta region alone.

The Yangtze River Delta region and Chengdu-Chongqing region contributed 800 million yuan and 560 million yuan respectively.

With the encouraging results, the group continues to increase its investments in the Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta, and to actively pursue opportunities in the Pan-Bohai Bay Rim region, the company says.

Last year, the group acquired 854,000 square metres of land parcels and its land bank totals 12.63 million square metres in gross floor area, including two new parcels in Dongguan and Guangzhou, two commercial and residential sites in Jiangyin, and a site in Shenyang.

Kaisa Group has a diversified land acquisition strategy that includes redevelopment, project acquisition and land auction, which enables them to acquire land at a relatively low cost.

The group saw a huge market potential in redevelopment projects in Guangdong province, as the Guangdong provincial government and Shenzhen government recently promulgated the policies on redevelopment, aiming to increase land supply and to improve the living standards.

'We have a wealth of experience in turning redevelopment projects into a success,' says L.L. Tam, vice-chairman of Kaisa Group Holdings. 'Leveraging the recently launched government policies on urban redevelopment, we will further invest in redevelopment projects particularly in Shenzhen and major cities of the Pearl River Delta. The group's dual-focus strategy in large-scale residential and commercial developments also sets us apart from our peers in terms of the ability to weather market fluctuations,' Tam says.

Kaisa Group Holdings' development of Shenzhen Kaisa Centre and Guangzhou Jinmao highlighted its expertise in commercial project developments. The group has recently acquired the full ownership of the Fenglong Centre in Futian, Shenzhen, to strengthen its commercial property development capability.

The dual-focus strategy brought a satisfactory performance in investment properties. Rental income rose 91.3 per cent to 100 million yuan last year, mainly attributable to the rental income from the retail space of Guangzhou Jinmao.

'We excel in developing large-scale, multi-purpose projects located in prime area of city centres,' Tam says. 'Such development will enhance our branding in residential [properties] and our ability to acquire land in the same city and its neighbouring areas.'

Kaisa Group has also entered into strategic alliance framework agreements with Sino Life Insurance in December last year and HNA Property this month.

'The collaboration efforts with these renowned companies are expected to enhance the group's capability in developing and acquiring high-quality projects,' says James Ye Jiansheng, president of Kaisa Group Holdings. 'It will also diversify our financing channels.' Profit attributable to equity holders increased by 9.4 per cent from 500.9 million yuan a year earlier to 547.9 million yuan for the year ended December 31, 2009. Earnings per share rose by 7.8 per cent to 13.8 HK cents.

Kaisa Group Holdings was listed on Hong Kong's stock exchange on December 9 last year. Its initial public offering helped decrease the group's net gearing ratio from 184.2 per cent a year earlier to 42.5 per cent for the year ended December 31, 2009.

'Such a healthy financial position equips us well in land acquisition and property development,' Tam says. 'With the robust economic growth on the mainland and, in turn, a strong demand for quality properties, we are confident that the group's strategic plans will enable us to reach new heights.'

The group's business encompasses large-scale residential properties, serviced apartments, office towers and integrated site planning and development in regions with high economic growth, such as the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta, Chengdu-Chongqing region and Pan-Bohai Bay Rim.

A very good year

Gross profit for Kaisa Group Holdings was 1.32 billion yuan last year from: 867.1 million in 2008

Gross profit for the group was up: 52%