Published on : Thu, 15 Sep 2005 19:04GMT
by : Lisa Pitt

The Shanghai World Trade Tower has been bought by the property branch of Morgan Stanley and a Chinese state firm, for a sum of $90 million. This is a surprise for the otherwise damp property market, and indicates a keen interest amongst investors even now.

Reports confirmed that Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Asia Ltd. and Shanghai Dragon Investment Co Ltd bought the Shanghai World Trade Tower together for $90 million.

The downtown office building was erected in 1997 as part of a Sino-foreign joint enterprise, with a floor space area of 68,182 square meters. It is being said that Morgan Stanley’s stake in the tower will remain for five years at least.

Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, had bought from Fortune Best Investment Ltd and Prudential Surplus Ltd. a whopping 92 pct stake in Shanghai Square in June, for 846 million hkd. Therefore, an active interest has been observed in Morgan Stanley regarding property in China, as it has also considered acquiring projects with Shanghai Forte Land Co. Ltd.

In addition, M. Stanley declared an investment of $90 million in 2003 for a top-notch residential area flanking Shanghai’s stylish Xintiandi area, in partnership with Shanghainese and Singaporean associates. The report proved Stanley’s Real Estate Funds’ Chinese investments increase five times in 2005, a tad bit lower than the six-fold growth observed in 2004.