Dalian Wanda Group Co Ltd - the largest commercial-property developer on the Chinese mainland - plans to raise funds from investors online this week to help finance new shopping malls, thus becoming the latest developer to tap an emerging trend amid a sluggish property market.

Announcing its plans on Sunday, Wanda did not disclose how much it targets to raise in its first crowdfunding initiative set to launch on Friday.

However, a company official said it will be "at least several billion yuan".

The crowdfunding product is expected to give investors around 12 percent annualized returns, with 6 percent each from property income and appreciation, the company said. The investment threshold for the product is only 1,000 yuan ($161.13).

Other mainland developers have already tapped Internet financing. Greenland Hong Kong Holdings Ltd - a subsidiary of the second-largest mainland developer, the State-backed Greenland Group - said in March it had set up an online platform that connects property developers and investors with financing and investment opportunities.

Beijing-based Modern Land, a smaller peer, raised more than 45 million yuan this year from six crowdfunding campaigns.

The increasing use of Internet financing, however, poses a dilemma for mainland regulators, who want to make it easier for entrepreneurs to access funding but are wary of such unregulated credit pools.

Dalian Wanda Group Chairman Wang Jianlin, China's richest man according to Forbes, has said the company will follow an "asset-light" strategy for growth, seeking outside investment to finance the plazas and selling them off after five or seven years.

Wanda, the holding company of Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties, said in April it aimed to have 1,000 shopping malls open by 2025, a nine-fold jump from the end of last year, as it bets on growth in consumer activity, especially in lower-tier cities.

Home prices started cooling in late 2013 after years of double-digit growth. But the picture has been looking better recently. Data last month showed that home sales measured by floor area rebounded 7.7 percent in April from a year ago - the first growth since November 2013.

(HK Edition 06/09/2015 page1)