Beijing Capital Land, whose shares have been suspended from trading in Hong Kong since June 20 after its chairman was arrested June 17 in a corruption scandal, plans to double property sales in the second half despite government efforts to rein in development. The developer said it would sell five projects, four in Beijing and one in Tianjin, with a total area of 352,000 square metres. The company had already signed sales contracts worth 3.1 billion yuan, of which one billion yuan would be included in second-half revenues and the rest next year, company secretary Eva Chan said yesterday. The company will complete four other projects this year, with a total size of 200,000 square metres. Since China launched its latest crackdown on property development, developers have seen sales fall. Beijing Capital on Friday said that its first-half sales fell 29 per cent to 177.6 million yuan and net profit, after excluding a one-time gain of 120 million yuan from renegotiating the purchase price of a subsidiary of Beijing East Ocean United Investment, grew to 86.7 million yuan from a year earlier. The company, which has relied on foreign partners for a substantial part of its funding in recent years, said government efforts to curb property speculation by foreigners would not affect its operations since its partners were long-term investors. Singapore government-controlled GIC Real Estate and US fund Angelo Gordon have taken up to 40 per cent stakes in joint projects.