China Merchants Property to double sales target this year

China Merchants Property Development Co Ltd, one of the country's four major property developers, posted a 28.03 percent increase in its 2012 net profit to 3.318 billion yuan ($527 million), it said in a financial statement late Monday.

The company's annual turnover reached 25.3 billion yuan, up 67.4 percent year-on-year. And its earnings per share were at 1.93 yuan.

Meanwhile, the company almost doubled its sales target for 2013 to 40 billion yuan, up from last year's no less than 21 billion yuan, showing the developer's confidence in the market.

The company will boost its business in first-tier cities, explore opportunities in second-tier cities and enter third-tier cities when it finds appropriate opportunities, it said in the statement.