CK Asset, founded by tycoon Li Ka-shing, said it had sold a residential and commercial development project in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu for around 1 billion U.S. dollars.

The company expected an unaudited gain of 3.8 billion HK dollars (490.22 million U.S. dollars) from the disposal to a company jointly owned by Chinese property developers Yuzhou Group and Chengdu Ruizhuo Real Estate Co, it said in a filing on Thursday night.

CK Asset's shares gained as much as 1.6 percent in early trading on Friday, outperforming the broader market, before retreating 0.2 percent at midday. Yuzhou Group fell 1.5 percent while Hang Seng Index eased 1.8 percent.

In a separate statement, the Hong Kong developer said Li Ka-shing and company chairman Victor Li remain confident in the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong markets, and it is the largest Hong Kong business in the Chinese mainland covering various industries.

It added the gains from the Chengdu disposal is on par with the 28 billion HK dollars average annual income it made from property sales in the Chinese mainland in the past decade.

(With input from Reuters)