SHANGHAI: Just a couple of hours after the Chinese government approved the Shanghai Disneyland project, a nearby parcel of land was snapped up for a whopping 1.19 billion yuan by a little-known Xiamen-based property developer at an auction in the city yesterday.

The plot, situated just 3.3 km away from the proposed Disneyland site, occupies an area of 56,570 sq m.

A total of 15 bidders, including Poly Real Estate Group and Shanghai Jielong Group, took part in the auction, but a State-owned company from Fujian province, Xiangyu Real Estate Co Ltd, offered the highest amount, which was 264 percent more than its reserve price of 362.8 million yuan.