said thatit commenced an open tender process to divest a 49% stake in threesubsidiaries.

Thecompany is expecting at least 9.29 billion Chinese yuan from the sale, accordingto a news release.

Thesubsidiaries are Fortune Set Ltd., Sunny Ease Ltd. and Vivid Star Ltd. Thecompanies are all involved in "a number" of mixed-use propertyprojects across China.

JoyCity will retain the 51% stake in the companies and continue to manage theoperation or development of the projects held by the subsidiaries. The planneddisposal is part of the company's development strategy to combine its assetmanagement, capital operations and brand export businesses.

Proceedsfrom the sale will be used to develop Joy City's commercial property business,for general working capital and to repay existing debt.

Thereis no guarantee that the divestment will move forward, and the company's boardnoted that it has not signed a binding agreement with any party for the stake.

As of July 15,US$1 was equivalent to 6.69 Chinese yuan.