The Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Beijing is part of a $1.8bn pool of property assets being injected into a Hong Kong-listed shell company, in the latest of a string of deals to help Chinese property developers gain access to cheaper offshore financing.

The assets are being injected by Cofco, the Chinese state-owned agricultural group that also has property and financial services arms. China Merchants Property Development, Gemdale, Wanda and Greenland Holding have all also pursued backdoor listings in Hong Kong for pools of properties this year.

Chinese securities regulators have blocked property developers from raising fresh equity in Shanghai and Shenzhen for the past three years, according to analysts. Debt funding for developers has become more expensive and constrained as the government has tried to contain a looming property bubble and overcapacity.