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(BEIJING, CHINA) -- It's not unlike the Monopoly party game - only the stakes are larger, much larger.

Li Ka Shing

Li Ka Shing, Zheng Yutong, Luan Xiong and Xu Jiayn, names that are largely unknown to the U.S. real estate investment community, are jockeying for multi-million-dollar stakes positions in China's largest real estate development company --  Evergrande Real Estate Group based in Guangzhou.

Wikipedia notes Li Ka Shing is the richest person of East Asian descent in the world and the 12th richest man in the world with an estimated wealth of US$16.2 billion on Feb. 13, 2009.

Evergrande has just gone public in Hong Kong,  increasing  the size of its planned initial public offering by 7 percent to as much as HK$6.46 billion ($834 million), according to Bloomberg reports. The shares are scheduled to be priced Oct. 29, with trading to debut Nov. 5,

Zheng Yutong

China's affluent  investment community is eager to pour "several hundred million U.S. dollars" into the group, according to the most recent  data prepared by China Information Technology Co. (CRIC), China Real Estate Appraisal and Shanghai E-house R&D Institute.

Chinese high-rollers Zheng Yutong, Luan Xiong and Li Ka Shing are at the forefront because they have not  made large investments in awhile, the researchers say.

Evergrande ranks number one in five listings, including in floor space sold for the first three quarters, sales revenues and land reserves at the end of Q3, according to  Sina Leju, the first media source to announce the release of the sales rankings.

Xu Jiayin

Xu Jiayin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Evergrande, went to Hong Kong during this year's National Day holidays.

"He was not vacationing, but preparing for the global road shows for Evergrande's IPO and the official listing scheduled for October and November respectively," according to Sina Leiu.

Numberous industry experts note that although some mainland real estate companies were confronted with the awkward situation of their stock prices sinking below IPO price when they went public in the Hong Kong market, Evergrande's subscription showed that well-known real estate companies with prime assets can be recognized and favored by investors as prices of Hong Kong shares rise, Sina Leiu states.

As a black horse in the market, Evergrande's has taken a leading position.

According to CRIC's statistical data, in Q3, 2009, Evergrande realized sales revenue of RMB12.33 billion, RMB300 million more than that of Vanke, which was ranked the second; its sold floor space amounted to 2.303 million square meters, 840,000 square meters more than that of the second place holder.

In terms of sales growth for Q3 and the first half of 2009, Evergrande doubled the growth of both sold floor space and sales revenue.

Meanwhile, in terms of nationwide land reserves, Evergrande ranked number one with land reserves of 51 million square meters. Country Garden ranked second with land reserves of 43.6 million square meters. Vanke and Poly ranked ninth and tenth respectively.

Some industry insiders have speculated that Evergrande's performance represents the biggest change in the Chinese real estate market this year.

"In the context of fierce competition among real estate companies, the positions of some well-established real estate developers are being challenged as some emerging companies, such as Evergrande, Poly, and China Overseas Property, are developing rapidly," states CRIC.

Some industry insiders also note  that Evergrande's top sales performance can be attributed to its strategy of rapid development and cost control.

According to statistics, the average price of its residential projects is RMB5,354 per square meter, up slightly from RMB 5,318 per square meter, which was the average price in the first half of this year.

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