Gold Coast Jewel and Sydney's One Circular Quay development sold by Wanda

China's Wanda Group headed by the tycoon Wang Jianlin has sold its One Circular Quay development, along with its Gold Coast Jewel development.

Wanda Australia's managing director, John Wei, negotiated the sale of the Circular Quay site (above).

Wanda started demolishing the Gold Fields tower at No.1 Alfred Street for a mixed-use scheme incorporating a five-star Wanda Vista Hotel, 190 exclusive private residences, and boutique retail premises last November having paid $425 million three years earlier.

It had been seeking prestige apartment buyers at One Circular Quay since last October, but the display suite has been closed to most inquiry over the Christmas break.

The Jewel (below) sales had been slow since 2015 at the project which Ridong has also sold out of this week.

Dalian Wanda Group announced the sale of their two Australian property projects as the Chinese firm looks to lessen financial strains caused by a major acquisition spree. 

China’s regulators last year told banks to stop providing funding for several of the conglomerate’s overseas acquisitions, sources have said, prompting a string of asset sales by Wanda, whose businesses range from real estate to football and cinemas, including Hoyts. 

The two high-end residential and hotel projects under development have been sold at around cost. 

No buyer has been revealed, although The Australian newspaper reported last week that property developer Yuhu, which is backed by Chinese investors, had entered into exclusive talks with Wanda to buy the assets in a deal at around A$1 billion. Yuhu has consistently denied its involvement in any purchase.

Shares in Wanda Hotel Development Co Ltd, which owns the projects, are in a trading halt.

The sale of the Australian projects comes after Wanda’s announcement last week that it had agreed to sell its interests in the high-profile London luxury development project, One Nine Elms, for 59 million pounds ($81 million).

The Chinese conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group advised last weekend its revenue dropped for a second consecutive year, by 10.8 percent in 2017.

It reported 227.4 billion yuan in revenue, while net profit remained flat compared with 2016, according to a statement posted on the company’s website. It did not reveal the profit figure. 

In middle of 2017, Wanda came under the scrutiny of China's banking regulator for posing "systemic risks" to domestic lenders with its overseas deals.

The Chinese authorities viewed some of its acquisitions as "irrational" and a method for moving capital out of the country.