China Overseas buys Shanghai land for $1 bln

China Overseas Land & Investment has agreed to pay RMB7 billion ($1 billion) for a plot of land in Shanghai. This is China’s biggest land transaction this year, underscoring developers’ optimism toward China’s property market.

Chinese developers have stepped up buying land for new projects after real estate prices jumped more than 30% in some markets, although many of the transactions appear to have been government departments stockpiling property.

Reuters reported that real estate investment rose 14.7% during the first eight months, while property prices in 70 major cities rose 2% in August from a year earlier.