China Overseas Land & Investment, the Hong Kong-listed flagship of the mainland construction ministry, said it was teaming up with a JP Morgan real estate fund to develop a US$230 million project in the Luwan district of Shanghai. The developer said it had sold to the United States company for US$67 million a 50 per cent stake and shareholders' loan in a company called Big Profit Enterprises, which owns the land-use rights of the site covering an area of 24,705.4 square metres. China Overseas did not disclose plans for the project but said the formation of the joint venture was in line with the current strategy of the company to bring in partners for developments. The project would be the fund's first real estate investment, so far. JP Morgan did not comment on the deal. China Overseas said it was granted the site by the Luwan district government under a number of contracts dated July 30, 2003, July 20, 2006, and December 31, 2006. Property consultants said the venture would try to complete construction of the project by 2010 when Shanghai will host the World Expo. China Overseas has actively increased its land bank in the mainland to a gross floor area for development amounting to more than 15 million square metres as of December 31. Last year, the company bought 19 sites in 11 mainland cities, with a total gross floor area of over 6.5 million square feet. Its latest acquisition is a 198,000 sq metre site in Ningbo last month.
