Outbound real estate investment to reach $5b in 2013

China's outbound investment into commercial real estate could reach $5 billion this year, international real estate advisory company Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) said in a report on Wednesday.

According to JLL, money flowing out of China into direct real estate investment overseas reached $4 billion in 2012, which is 33 percent higher than in 2011.

For Arthur de Haast, head of the International Capital Group and chairman of Hotels and Hospitality Group at JLL, China has always had the potential to be a major source of capital for real estate investment globally.

"Our forecast is that China, and the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, will see this trend continue over the next 20 years. In the first quarter of this year alone, Chinese investors have poured $1 billion into London office stock," said Haast.