By WANG Tingting

The Shanghai-based property developer Greenland Holdings saw its revenue grow 19.4 percent last year to 544 billion yuan (US$82 billion) while net profit dropped 58.8 percent to 6.2 billion yuan, according to its annual report released on April 29.

In a year of change for the real estate industry, Greenland tried to stabilize its assets and lower debts. By the end of 2021, assets had grown 6 percent to 90 billion yuan and liabilities with interest dropped 81 billion yuan to 241 billion yuan. Greenland is still facing the prospect of default, as its liability ratio remains at 88.7 percent, some 170 billion yuan of debt will be due within two years.

The company recouped funds by selling property, mostly overseas, including hotels in Australia, Canada and Japan for 3.7 billion yuan. 

Infrastructure projects contributed 57 percent of Greenland’s revenue last year. The company is investing more in infrastructure as the housing market stumbles. In Q1 this year, homes sales made only 30. 8 billion yuan, less than half of last year’s Q1.