Real Estate Funds Attracting Investors in Chinese property -- well, not exactly

Real estate funds rush to enter China

The Hong Kong-based CITIC Capital Holdings Limited announced this week that the CITIC Capital China Retail Properties Investment Fund completed its first phase of funding earlier this month, closing at $225 million.
The fund, which attracted institutional investors from the United States, Europe and Asia, aims to raise a total capital commitment of $600 million and is focused on retail property and mixed-use development with a substantial retail portion in China's second- and third-tier cities, according to the company's statement.

Soros' fund is also rumored to be planning adding Chinese real estate to its portfolio.

The kicker is this:

"From the beginning of 2012, there should be good investment opportunities," he said.
He expects the market correction to last one and a half years. But "if the market correction takes longer, say three years, we'll focus on China's second- and third-tier cities in the first one and a half years and then center on first-tier cities in the second one and a half," he said.

They are getting in a position to vulch.