A LARGE expanse of land designated for residential and commercial use in Shanghai sold yesterday for 2.3 billion yuan (US$342 million), more than four times the starting price of 534 million yuan.

It was the first land auction since the announcement of new government tightening measures - and a sign that developers seem optimistic about the property market despite the cooling efforts.

Shenzhen-based Gemdale Corp bought the 177,900-square-meter plot in Hangtou Town in the Pudong New Area at a price of 10,500 yuan per square meter, based on Gemdale's plan to build floor space of 217,548 square meters.

The winning bid represented a 328 percent premium, second-highest this year.

In February, a group led by Yanlord Land bought a site in Xujing, Qingpu District, at a premium of 431 percent, according to Soufun.com, the leading real-estateportal.

The Gemdale sale comes just days after Shanghai announced new measures restricting home purchases to one per household and increasing residential land supply- measures meant to slow down fast-rising real estate prices.

At the national level, the State Council, or the Cabinet, last month raised the down paymentrequirement to 30 percent for all first-home buyers, if the home is larger than 90 square meters.

Market watchers said the Hangtou land sale shows that property developers remain confident in rising trends for land and housing prices.

"Since the Hangtou project is mainly for residential development, developers can well accept to buy at a premium of 328 percent," Song Huiyong, researchdirector at Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Ltd, told Soufun.

Gemdale said at least 20 percent of the residential projects at the Hangtou site will be developed into small and medium apartments of 90 square meters or less.

Hangtou sits at the center of Pudong, which merged with the former Nanhui District last year. With a planned Metro line connection, the area has the potential to become a future regional center.

The plot acquired by Gemdale is about 30 kilometers from the city center, 24km from the Pudong International Airport and 13km from the planned Shanghai Disneyland, the company said.

Among other land sites auctioned by the local land authority yesterday, Shenzhen Overseas Chinese Town Co bought a piece of land designated for commercial use in Songjiang District for 461 million yuan, just 1 million yuan higher than the starting price.

Shanghai-based Greenland Group acquired one plot near the Pudong International Airport for 159 million yuan and another one in Sijing, Songjiang, for 94.3 million yuan.

• commercial [kə´mə:ʃəl] a.商业的 n.广告节目 (初中英语单词)
• yesterday [´jestədi] n.&ad.昨天；前不久 (初中英语单词)
• despite [di´spait] prep.尽管 (初中英语单词)
• estate [i´steit] n.财产；庄园；等级 (初中英语单词)
• cabinet [´kæbinit] n.橱，柜；内阁 (初中英语单词)
• payment [´peimənt] n.支付；报酬；报偿 (初中英语单词)
• project [prə´dʒekt, ´prɔdʒekt] v.设计；投掷 n.计划 (初中英语单词)
• mainly [´meinli] ad.主要地；大体上 (初中英语单词)
• research [ri´sə:tʃ] n.&vi.调查；探究；研究 (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə] n.指导者；....长；导演 (初中英语单词)
• medium [´mi:diəm] n.中间；平均 a.中等的 (初中英语单词)
• connection [kə´nekʃən] n.联系；关系；联运 (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl] a.国际的，世界的 (初中英语单词)
• billion [´biljən] num.万亿 (高中英语单词)
• announcement [ə´naunsmənt] n.通告；宣布；言谈 (高中英语单词)
• requirement [ri´kwaiəmənt] n.需要(的东西)；要求 (高中英语单词)
• confident [´kɔnfidənt] a.有信心的，自信的 (高中英语单词)
• potential [pə´tenʃəl] n.&a.潜在的；可能的 (高中英语单词)
• auction [´ɔ:kʃən] n.&vt.拍卖 (英语四级单词)
• winning [´winiŋ] n.&a.胜利(的) (英语四级单词)
• premium [´pri:miəm] n.奖励；奖金；保险费 (英语四级单词)
• portal [´pɔ:tl] n.(正)门；隧道 (英语四级单词)
• expanse [ik´spæns] n.广阔；宽阔的区域 (英语六级单词)
• overseas [,əuvə´si:z] ad.(向)海外 a.海外的 (英语六级单词)