Greenland Group signed a real estate development contract worth 6.6 billion yuan ($one billion) with the people's government of Baotou on Oct 31, marking the first collaboration between the two, reports Xinhua.

According to the contract, Greenland will build a 980,000-square-meter high-end residential area in Baotou, Inner Mongolia autonomous region by 2022. The residential area will include 55 villas, 41 high-rise residential buildings and four commercial buildings, targeting the middle class in the city.

The project will take root in Xindushi district, a new district still under construction, which will be the new commercial, economic, and cultural center of the city.

Founded in 1992 in Shanghai, Greenland Group is the only real estate developer in China that has made it to the Fortune Global 500 list. The real estate development projects of the company have spanned across 29 provinces and 80 cities in China, with a cumulative constructed floor area reaching 82.33 million square meters across all projects. The company has also branched out to the global market, covering 4 continents, 9 countries including USA, Canada, UK and Australia, and 13 cities. After more than 20 years' development, it is becoming the forerunner of China's real estate industry.

The company began to strengthen ties with the Inner Mongolia autonomous region in 2008, proposing a high-rise and a large-scale building project settled in Hohhot, the capital city of the autonomous region.