A Wanda Plaza in Beijing's Shijingshan district is closed for sanitation work on Thursday after a customer said she tested positive for COVID-19. Photo: Lihao/GT

China's real estate giant Wanda Hotel Development Company announced it is selling off its real estate project in Chicago. This means that Wanda, once aggressive in overseas business exploration, will have sold all of its real estate projects in overseas countries.

According to a statement published by Wanda Hotel on Thursday, the company's non-wholly owned subsidiary Wanda Chicago Real Estate will sell 90 percent of the equity in its real estate project in Chicago named Vista Tower for $270 million. 

The buyer will be Magellan Parcel C/D LLC, an Illinois-based company which already owns a 10 percent stake in the project, the statement read. 

According to media reports, Vista Tower was poised to become the third-tallest building on the Chicago skyline at about 350 meters high. The project, when completed, will offer nearly 400 luxury condos along with a five-star Wanda Vista Hotel. The property is currently being constructed. 

Wanda said in the statement that the disposal is consistent with its strategy to deleverage and improve cash flow. It also said that the disposal would represent an opportunity for Wanda to realize its investment in the Chicago-based real estate project. 

"As the Chicago Property Project is still under construction, the disposal will help reduce the current and future indebtedness of the group and will benefit the group by strengthening the financial position of the group," the statement read. 

Wanda said the move will enable the company to divert its resources to focus more on other business sectors such as hotel design and hotel construction management. 

Wanda's share prices surged by 24.53 percent to HK$0.33 per share on Thursday. The company made a loss of HK$388 million in the fiscal year of 2019. 

The Chinese real estate giant, which once owned several overseas real estate projects, started to sell them gradually from early 2018. In January that year, Wanda sold its mixed-use skyscraper project One Nine Elms in London. It also sold two projects in Australia later that month. 

Wanda has noted in a statement published in March 2018 that Vista Tower was its only remaining overseas real estate project. That means the company will have disposed of all its overseas projects now. 

Chinese buyers have been described as passionate investors in global property market but have retreated from such investment since the government tightened controls on overseas investment in hotels, real estate and entertainment.