Chinese property developer Shui On Land Ltd. unit Ally Victory Ltd., China Life Insurance (Overseas) Co. Ltd. unit China Life Trustees Ltd. and certain units of Manulife Financial Corp. agreed to establish a joint venture to invest US$1.00 billion in Chinese real estate.

Under the terms of the Dec. 29 agreement, the parties agreed to commit US$750.0 million to the initiative, which also includes the management and administration of the properties, which could be in Shanghai and other tier 1 Chinese cities.

As part of the deal, China Life Trustees agreed to sell its entire shareholding in Sinothink Holdings Ltd. to a joint venture company established to invest in the Corporate Avenue 5 mixed-used property in Shanghai.

Sinothink indirectly owns a 99% interest in the Shanghai property, which has a site area of 11,817 square meters and a total gross floor area of 102,330 square meters.

Shui On Land unit Shui On Development (Holding) Ltd. committed to invest US$140.5 million in the joint venture company.