According to JLL, the weakening of the Chinese currency benefits global property markets.

It's been a year since China startled the world by allowing greater flexibility in the renminbi exchange rate, which resulted in a historic 1.9 percent decline in value against the US dollar.

Despite widespread concerns about China's economy, JLL claims that the move has benefited the global real estate industry by increasing mainland Chinese investors' appetite for overseas properties and stoking interest among Chinese insurance and other financial companies in holding real estate assets rather than cash. for sale qatar

Since the yuan depreciation last year, mainland investors have escalated their purchases of property assets in Hong Kong and further afield in the United States, where real estate values are linked to the value of the dollar. Wheelock and Co sold both towers of its One Harbourgate complex in Kowloon to mainland investors over the past nine months, with insurance giant China Life acquiring the west tower for HK$5.86 billion in November and Shenzhen billionaire Chen Hongtian's Cheung Kei Holdings acquiring the eastern tower for HK$4.5 billion.

"Chinese corporations have spent over RMB 28 billion in Hong Kong properties in the last year," said Oscar Chan of JLL's China Capital Markets division. "This appetite for Hong Kong real estate reflects not only the expanding international footprint of many mainland firms, but also the rising realization of the benefits of owning properties denominated in several currencies."

China's sovereign wealth fund CIC invested $700 million in Manhattan's New York Plaza in May, and China Life partnered with US developer RXR to buy a New York office tower for $1.65 billion the same month.

"As Chinese investors gain greater cross-border experience, Chinese institutions have played a role in some of this year's largest transactions in the world's largest real estate market," said Darren Xia, Head of JLL's International Capital Group for China. "Buying assets denominated in foreign currencies allows China's largest investors to diversify their portfolios," he added.

"In addition to acquiring abroad assets, China's institutional investors have been looking for more real estate domestically, as property values in the mainland's important commercial centres continue to rise," said Johnny Shao, JLL's Head of Capital Markets in East China.

SOHO China sold SOHO Century Plaza in Shanghai's Pudong district to Guohua Life Insurance for RMB 3.2 billion earlier this month, just five years after purchasing the project in the Zhuyuan area for RMB 1.89 billion.

According to JLL data, premium revenue in China's insurance market nearly quadrupled in the last five years, rising to RMB 2.4 trillion in 2015 from RMB 1.3 trillion in 2010.

With some analysts predicting that the People's Bank of China may allow the renminbi to decline by up to 3% this year, insurers and other institutional investors have turned to real estate as a reliable source of investment return for their growing portfolios.

This growing pool of capital looking for a return on investment is good for developers like SOHO, which stated this week that it plans to sell three more of its Shanghai properties as the city's rising leasing rates and burgeoning service sector continue to attract investors.