(Yicai Global) July 27 -- A subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering is teaming up with Singaporean property developer Singhaiyi Group to construct an apartment complex in the Southeast Asian nation with a joint investment of CNY10.5 billion (USD1.6 billion), the Chinese engineering behemoth said today.

After a thorough review of current market conditions, China Construction South Pacific Development has decided to proceed with the project, CSCEC said. The undertaking will help CSCEC to further develop the Singapore market and enhance its brand awareness overseas.

Located in Katong, southeast Singapore, the housing project covers 25,200 square meters of land and will have a construction area of 88,300 square meters, the company said. Singapore-based China Construction South Pacific will hold a 20 percent stake and Singhaiyi the remainder.

Business is good for CSCEC. In the first half it signed CNY2 trillion (USD296 billion) worth of contracts, a gain of 10.8 percent from a year earlier, according to its latest financial report. The value of newly signed contracts in the construction business surged 14.4 percent to CNY1.8 trillion, while real estate sales tumbled 15.3 percent to CNY186 billion (USD27.5 billion).

As of the end of June, the Beijing-based company had land reserves of 100.1 square kilometers, 5 percent of which are newly acquired.

Editors: Shi Yi, Kim Taylor