This would the first REIT from Shanghai and only the second from the Chinese mainland. Last December Guangzhou Investment's GZI REIT became the first to list in Hong Kong when it raised US$216 million.

State-owned Greenland, which was set up in 1997, revealed at the beginning of this year that sales were up 45% on the year at 14.78 billion yuan (US$1.84 billion). Income from real estate increased 11% to 6.03 billion yuan (US$750 million). Greenland is also one of the few Chinese real estate companies to publish its results. It has a dozen commercial properties in Shanghai, including office buildings, hotels and service apartment blocks, half of which will be included in the trust. The REIT is expected to have an annual yield of 6% to 10%.

In February, Greenland signed a deal with InterContinental Hotels Group, under which it will manage four hotels with a total of more than 1,400 rooms. Greenland plans to invest 1.5 billion yuan (US$187 million) in the four hotels--one in Nanjing, which will be the tallest hotel in the world, one Holiday Inn in Xian and two Express by Holiday Inns in Shanghai. Last year it bought a controlling 40.11% in Nanjing Urban Development Group, the city's biggest developer.