Record-breaking $1b paid for land in Beijing

Beijing's property market opened high at the beginning of this year with a record price sale.

A consortium that included China Resources, Shoukai Share and Ping An Real Estate bought a large residential site in central Beijing's Fengtai district on Wednesday for 8.625 billion yuan ($1.39 billion), making it the most expensive plot in the capital.

The record was previously held by a commercial-residential site in Beijing's central Hua Jia Hutong that was sold to Beijing Huarong for 7.46 billion yuan in August.

Wednesday's price tag, 22 per cent higher than the government's opening price of 7.07 billion yuan, represents 20,599 yuan per square meter.

The plot could yield a total gross floor area of 418,693 square meters.

A Wharf consortium paid 8.6 billion yuan for two adjoining sites in the same area on Monday.

In 2014, despite unprecedented property market downturn, Beijing government raked in 191.7 billion yuan, up 5 percent from a year ago, and topped cities across China, according to consultancy China Index Academy.