(Yicai) April 17 -- Swire Properties is showing no signs of slowing down the pace of its investment in the Chinese mainland, with Chief Executive Officer Tim Blackburn saying the Hong Kong-based developer is looking for new opportunities in Shenzhen.

"We are eager to continue our development in mainland China," Blackburn said at a ceremony to mark a decade of Taikoo Li Chengdu, a retail-led mixed-use development in Chengdu. "We hope to find new opportunities in Shenzhen, as it is a suitable city for the development of Swire Properties.

"We are still very confident in the long-term prospects of the mainland real estate market, and we believe that now is a great time to make investments, as competition is not very intense," he noted. "This allows us to focus more on enhancing the quality of our products.”

Less than three years after launching Swire Properties' HKD100 billion (USD12.88 billion) investment plan, about HKD46 billion (USD5.9 billion) of the HKD50 billion earmarked for the mainland has been used, with many of the projects involved already built and put up for sale, according to Blackburn.

Taikoo Li Sanlitun in Beijing's central Chaoyang district is Swire Properties' largest single investment and biggest mixed-use development project by scale in the mainland, Blackburn said, adding that the builder has also projects under construction in cities such as Guangzhou, Sanya, and Xi'an.

Swire Properties has not yet developed any residential properties in the mainland outside of Shanghai, he admitted.

The Hong Kong-based developer's first residential property in the mainland, located in Shanghai's Lujiazui in Pudong New Area, saw a subscription rate of 250 percent for the initial sale of 50 units last year. The project's second batch of units will go on sale this month.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione