Ping An Trust joins hands with Gemdale for property investment

Aug. 7, 2009 (China Knowledge) - China Ping An Trust & Investment Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the country's second-largest insurer, Ping An Insurance (Group) Co<601318><2318>, on Thursday signed a cooperation agreement to invest up to RMB 10 billion in property projects that will be developed by Gemdale Corp<600383> over the next three years, said Ping An Insurance yesterday.

Ping An Trust will invest about RMB 3 billion in such projects in 2009, said Ping An Insurance in a statement, without specifying the projects or their shareholding structure.

Ping An Trust said that it will fund projects in different areas to diversify risk.

Tong Kai, CEO of Ping An Trust, has said that the company has successfully completed tens of real estate projects, all of which generated good returns.

In 2008, Ping An Trust's business revenue surged 37% year on year to RMB 1.66 billion, with a net profit of RMB 1.21, up 65% from the previous year. The company currently has more than RMB 80 billion in third-party assets under management.

Ping An Trust reportedly inked a memorandum of understanding with AXA Real Estate Investment Managers, the largest real estate fund manager in Europe and the fourth-largest in the world, to jointly develop high-end residential projects in China, according to an earlier report from China Knowledge.