(Yicai) Feb. 12 -- Poly Development and Holdings Group and China Jinmao Holdings Group have secured a land plot package in the center of Beijing for over CNY8.7 billion (USD1.2 billion).

The two Chinese state-owned property developers yesterday won the action for the land parcels in Chaoyang district after about one hundred rounds of bidding at a premium rate of 10.5 percent, resulting in an estimated floor price of CNY52,000 (USD7,115) per square meter.

This was the third time Chaoyang held an auction for a land plot package. Yesterday’s 69,000 sqm package comprised two residential plots and one for a kindergarten.

The area where the three land plots are has good transportation and supporting facilities, is close to two major business districts, and is located near metro Line 6, said Zhang Kai, head of land market research at the China Index Academy.

Thanks to a series of policies and eased restrictions, Beijing’s land auction market returned to normal competition, with the activity becoming more intense, according to the local branch of China Real Estate Information Corporation.

Even though the transaction volume and value of residential properties in Beijing’s land auction market decreased last year, the proportion of high-value plots increased.

After the government introduced real estate supportive policies last September, Beijing auctioned several high-quality residential plots in core areas and near metro stations, which led the average transaction floor price to jump by CNY3,441 (USD470) per sqm last year from 2023.

Beijing’s first land auction of this year on Jan. 2 saw two plots in Haidian district sold after 413 bidding rounds for a total of CNY18.2 billion (USD2.5 billion), a new single-auction record for the Chinese capital city.

The first plot was acquired by a consortium of China Railway Real Estate Group, China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings, and China Resources Land for CNY9.2 billion at a premium rate of 17.3 percent, and the other plot was bought by C&D Real Estate for CNY9 billion at a premium rate of 25 percent.

Central and local state-owned enterprises secured over 80 percent of the land acquisition value and volume among the top 100 property developers last year, mainly because of their advantages in sales capacity, financial ability, and delivery capability, said Liu Shui, enterprise research director at the China Index Academy.

Editor: Futura Costaglione