So raising money from the Hong Kong exchange has been the New Year plan for quite a number of property developers who are eager for capital to fuel their expansion.

Sino-Ocean Real Estate Development Co (SORED), incorporated by two multinational shipping companies China Ocean Shipping (Group) Company (COSCO) and Sinochem Corporation is expected to make its debut on the Hong Kong exchange in the first half of this year, raising HK$3 billion to HK$4 billion, sources said. Underwriters for the IPO are Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.

On January 10, Standard Chartered Investment Co announced an investment of $35 million into SORED.

"We, together with Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch, have just finished a capital injection into SORED," said Chen Fan, president of Standard Chartered Investment Co (Greater China Region), during the 2006 China Property Investment and Financing Forum in Hong Kong.

SORED declined to comment, but its moves reveal the listing ambition.

Insiders said SORED is reshuffling its business portfolio by improving the proportion of management-oriented property and reducing that of development-oriented property thus enhancing its capacity to handle risk.

Meanwhile, the company is also actively expanding its land reserves. It just bought 310,000 square kilometers of land at cost of 1.78 billion yuan, beating other bidders like Beijing Capital Land and China Resources Land.

SORED's land reserves also include a 150-square-kilometer project in Guanzhuang, a villa project with 131 hectares and a business center that covers 257,000 square meters.

For property developers, land reserves are a major indicator of their strengths. SORED's rich land supply partly paved the way for its future development.

As SORED appears to be speeding up its IPO plan, other property developers are also itching to catch up.

SOHO China, one of the leading real estate companies in Beijing, is also mulling a listing plan.

SOHO China is expected to float its shares on the Hong Kong exchange in the first half of the year, raising around HK$3.2 billion.

Pan Shiyi, president of SOHO China, declined to comment. But insiders say the company has selected Goldman Sachs and HSBC Holdings as its underwriter.

Glory Real Estate and Fangheng Real Estate were also reported to launch their IPOs on schedule.

"We plan to make our Hong Kong IPO in the second half of the year," Wu Bin, head of the marketing division of Glory Property, said.

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