(Yicai Global) Oct. 13 -- Troubled Chinese property developer Shimao Group said it plans to sell the remaining stake it owns in a mixed-use development project in Nanjing for CNY1.8 billion (USD244 million) to repay debt and help it restart other projects.

Shimao will sell its 45 percent stake to China Cinda Asset Management and Minmetals International Trust at a loss of CNY145 million (USD20.2 million), the Hong Kong-based firm said late yesterday. Located in Nanjing’s Qixia district and still under construction, the project covers an area of about 226,100 square meters.

The development was originally a jointly project of Shimao and Suning Real Estate, which bought the land for CNY4.6 billion in July 2020. In July this year, Suning Real Estate withdrew from the project amid a liquidity crisis and sold its 55 percent stake to Minmetals International Trust.

It is the sixth time this year that Shimao has unveiled an asset disposal plan, after selling several real estate projects, including Guangzhou Asian Games City and Hyatt on the Bund in Shanghai. To tackle its cash crunch, in early July, the group also began to promote overseas debt restructuring, which is still in due diligence.

Early last month Shimao also signed a refinancing deal with Singapore’s United Overseas Bank for a HKD10.3 billion (USD1.3 billion) loan for the Tai Wo Ping project in Kowloon, Hong Kong.

In the first nine months of this year, Shimao had sales of CNY64.8 billion (USD9 billion), down over 70 percent from a year earlier, according to figures released by the China Real Estate Information Corporation.

Editor: Futura Costaglione