Paul Hastings advises GZI REIT on first Chinese Property REIT to list in Hong Kong

December 21, 2005

Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker (Paul Hastings) has represented GZI REIT Asset Management Limited (GZI REIT) in relation to a US$216 million real estate investment trust (REIT) which listed on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on December 21, 2005. The joint global co-ordinators are HSBC, Citigroup and DBS Bank Ltd. The Paul Hastings team also advised the GZI REIT in the acquisition of all the properties in its portfolio, as well as on a US$165 million three year syndicated loan facility to GZI REIT. The ground-breaking GZI REIT is the first with a portfolio of PRC-based real estate assets to list in Hong Kong. It is also the first REIT to invest in Guangzhou, Southern China and the assets comprise a portfolio of four commercial (shopping and office) properties in Guangzhou. The previous two Hong Kong-listed REITs (Link and Prosperity) included Hong Kong-based assets only. A team of international real estate and capital markets lawyers in Paul Hastings Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai offices, led by partners Raymond Li and Vivian Lam with Mark Hwang, worked on the transaction. Says Vivian Lam, a partner in Paul Hastings Hong Kong office: Paul Hastings has been delighted to work with GZI REIT on the launch of the first Hong Kong-listed PRC property REIT. Our China team is very experienced in structuring real estate investment trusts and funds, and we have 20 lawyers in our three China offices dedicated to real estate transactions like GZI REIT and property acquisitions by REITs. In addition, in 2005, our firm has handled over US$2.5 billion of complex international securities offerings in Asia, including the COSCO IPO, so we were ideally placed to handle this particular project. Raymond Li, head of Paul Hastings China Group added Paul Hastings created a sophisticated new legal structure for GZI REIT to ensure that all components of the transaction complied with the necessary PRC and Hong Kong requirements. We are delighted that the REIT has successfully listed. Our team is also working on and looking forward to completing a number of similar listings in Hong Kong in the new year. Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP, founded in 1951, is a global law firm with 1,000 lawyers located in 17 offices in Asia, Europe and the United States. Paul Hastings has one of Asias largest global legal practices, with a team of over 130 lawyers located in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Tokyo. More Information about Paul Hastings REITs Practice: Paul Hastings is a global leader in REITs and real estate-related capital markets transactions and has been named International Real Estate Law Firm of the Year for the last three years by Chambers. For the last 30 years, Paul Hastings has pioneered the development of real estate across Asia, from ground-breaking REIT transactions in Japan, Korea and China, to the first rated securitization of Japanese mortgage-backed debt and non-recourse real estate loans completed in Japan, as well as some of the first non-performing loan bulk auctions, acquisitions and financings completed in China, Japan and the Asia-Pacific region. In 2005, Paul Hastings has successfully completed a number of ground-breaking REITs in China and Japan, including the first JREIT to be listed on the JASDAQ Securities Exchange in Japan. The Paul Hastings Tokyo team represented Starts Proceed Investment Corporation in relation to the JPY7.7 billion (US$64 million) J-REIT which closed on 30 November 2005.