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HONG KONG-ING Real Estate says it has raised $350 million in equity from institutional investors and high net worth individuals for its China Opportunity Fund. The investment objective of the private, closed-end, total return fund is to invest in opportunistic projects with a focus on mid-range local housing developments in first and second tier cities in China in partnership with established China-based developers.

US pension funds and other large institutional investors are showing increased interest in China, according to ING. Robert Lie, chief executive of ING Real Estate Investment Management Asia, says the interest shown in the fund tells him that the fund's strategy is the correct one "despite the austerity measures announced by the Chinese central government in May and August of this year, aimed at cooling the real estate market in China."

To date, the portfolio includes a mixed-use development joint venture with Shanghai Forte Land in the Hong Kou district of Shanghai; two housing projects in joint venture with Raycom International in Changsha, the capital city of Hunan Province in the south of central China; and a joint venture for a housing development with Gemdale Corp. in Tianjin that is awaiting government approval.