(Yicai Global) Oct. 12 -- HNA Group is still on the prowl for buyers for its star project Da Ying Shan central business district in Haikou, capital of China's southernmost island province of Hainan.

Haikou-based HNA is selling four projects in the CBD, none of which have yet broken ground. One has not even been appraised, while the value of the rest is projected at CNY2.14 billion (USD309 million), state-backed The Paper reported today. The conglomerate, which owns 25 percent of Hilton Worldwide, has interests in aviation, realty, tourism, financial services and other areas.

The area, zoned for residential apartments, offices and retail outlets, has already eaten hundreds of billions of yuan. Investment in core areas was about CNY150 billion. It covers 8,440 acres -- of which 3,000 are core -- and comprises 16 projects. It is the first such urban complex Hainan's government has approved. It has just begun to take shape after nearly ten years' development and construction, becoming the city's only large-scale plot concentration area.

Hainan R&F, a wholly-owned unit of Guangzhou-headquartered R&F Properties, will work with HNA to develop two other projects in the complex, at a cost of about CNY5.7 billion, the parent announced.

The company has suffered cash flow problems since the start of the year following a merger and acquisition binge, HNA's chairman Chen Feng said. Its financing ability has also taken a hit from the Chinese economy's shift from rapid to moderate growth, he added. The firm has frequently shed its global assets since the new year, jettisoning properties in London, New York, San Francisco, Melbourne, Bora Bora and Brussels, per the report.

HNA has been seeking 'partners' to buy its domestic assets since the start of the year. Packages are on offer in the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing, Hainan and Zhuhai in Guangdong province in at least six cities, The Paper reported back in April.

Editor: Ben Armour