BEIJING, April 23 -- SohoChina Ltd, a Beijing-based property developer, said its concentration on the commercial market will shield the company from government measures to cool the real estate sector.

    "Further macroeconomic controls will not affect us at all in our current focus on commercial developments," Chairman Pan Shiyi said in an interview in southern China at a gathering of business and government leaders. "Tightening measures typically clamp down on the residential market, where the government's afraid of speculation."

    The Chinese government aims to slow a surge in property prices and investment as it strives slow the economy, which expanded 11.1 percent in the first quarter. China has restricted land supply, curbed loans to real estate companies and imposed new taxes.

    In Guangdong, a province that adjoins Hong Kong, average home prices jumped 12 percent last year.

    The Chinese central bank has raised borrowing costs three times in the past year. It may raise interest rates two more times this year and order banks to set aside more money to slow lending, according to a survey by Bloomberg News.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)