CHEUNG Kong Property Holdings, owned by Asia’s richest man Li Ka-shing, is seeking to sell a large commercial development in Shanghai in what could be the largest real estate transaction in China, according to two industry sources with knowledge on the matter.

    Local media reported late last week that the Hong Kong developer is asking for as much as 20 billion yuan (US$3.22 billion) to sell the Century Link development that includes a shopping mall and twin office buildings totaling 269,000 square meters and is scheduled to open next year.

    “The sale is still at an early stage; this is a very large sale, it will take time to confirm a buyer,” said one of the sources, who declined to be named because the deal is confidential.

    Cheung Kong Property did not respond to an email request yesterday for comment.

    The sale would be the seventh property disposal on the Chinese mainland by the Hong Kong tycoon in the past two years, a move that some market observers said signals his diminishing confidence in the slowing China real estate market.

    Real estate agents said the selling price of “around 70,000 yuan per square meter” was reasonable and Century Link should attract much buying interest as many investors want to enter Shanghai’s Pudong market where office vacancy rate is lower than 2 percent, compared to an overall vacancy rate of 7.2 percent in the city.

    (SD-Agencies)