(Yicai Global) April 23 -- A 32,800 square-meter commercial plot in the fashion center of Shanghai sold at its base price of CNY6 billion (USD847 million) this week in the city’s second highest price thus far this year.

Bidding located at Jingan district with a unit price CNY50,000 (USD7,000) per square meter. Because the auction requires that the bidder hold 80 percent of the area for rentals and thus requires large sums, the only eligible company was Lanhai Holding Group, so it went at the base price to this sole bidder, the city government said earlier, The Paper reported yesterday.

Founded in 2003 with a registered capital of CNY6.5 billion, Shanghai-based Lanhai Holding Group does business in the high-end medical, banking, and automobile sectors. Its subsidiaries include the listed company Lanhai Medical Investment [SHA:600896]. The company also became the largest shareholder in Shanghai Life Insurance by increasing its stake earlier this month.

Shanghai will increase the land supply this year and its government will introduce policies to spur investment and stabilize the economy. Many of these measures will benefit the real estate market, including speeding up the pace of operational land transfer, appropriately increasing the annual land supply and reducing the pressures on housing companies entering the market.

Shanghai has made 85 deals in different types of land with a total area of 3.3 million square meters and a planned construction area of 7 million square meters. The average floor price is CNY11,890 (USD1,679) per square meter and the total price is CNY83.7 billion (USD11.8 billion), The Paper reported.

Editor: Ben Armour