Chinese property developers eye offshore financing

Chinese real estate developers are looking overseas for financing as tough policies at home hit the fiercely competitive market.

Funds raised overseas by Chinese property firms totaled $25.6 billion as of July, more than triple last year's $8.3 billion, according to the Economic Information Daily, citing the latest statistics from Centaline Property Research Center.

Evergrande Group, China's second-largest property group by sales, has issued a record $6.6 billion of dollar-denominated bonds of three maturity terms since May, a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange showed.

It was followed by Kaisa Group's $3.5 billion issuance. According to the newspaper, Longfor Properties, Country Garden, and Greenland Group also offered offshore bonds or notes ranging from $500 million to $1 billion as well.

The moves come as domestic financing channels for real estate developers narrowed. Le Jiadong, analyst at GF Securities, said that Chinese authorities have tightened market regulation to curb asset bubbles and prevent financial risks since the fourth quarter of last year.

The proportion of all new loans issued by Chinese banks that were for real estate declined to 35 percent year-on-year in the first six months of the year compared to 44.9 percent in 2016.

Analysts expect bigger players to gain a market advantage over smaller rivals with consolidations going up amid the changing industrial landscape

Tan Xinyu contributed to this story.