Company officials say they were offering at least 89 million new shares at not less than HK$89.00 apiece and plan to raise about HK$8 billion ($1.03 billion). While pricing has not yet been finalized, executives add that Sun Hung Kai would use the sale proceeds to fund projects in Shanghai and Hangzhou.

A separate statement said that the Securities and Futures Commission had not yet approved the REIT application, and the company has yet to make an application to the stock exchange. But it went on to say the company was "finalizing" plans to spin off some of its office and industrial property into the REIT.

"We're not changing our focus to China, but taking a two-lane strategy," a spokeswoman for Sun Hung Kai says. "We remain confident about Hong Kong's property market." The company now as 17 million sf of development in China but is looking to expand rapidly.

In the past few months a number of Hong Kong-listed companies have sought to take advantage of a 15% rise in Hang Seng Index to raise capital. Earlier this week Aluminum Corp. raised US$599-million offering from Aluminum Corp. of China. And last month, CNOOC, the oil producer, raised nearly $2 billion in a share sale on April 27 to help fund its expansion plans.

In addition to share sales, a range of Hong Kong property companies--including Sun Hung Kai, Chinese Estates Holdings and Henderson Land Development--have said they may launch real investment trusts now that US$2.8-billion Link REIT has proved successful.