Some Chinese real estate companies haven’t hesitated to expand their businesses, despite tightened industry supervision.

China Resources Land Limited, a subsidiary of the central government-administered China Resources (Holdings) Company Limited, saw its land bank grow by nearly 60% from 37.44 million square meters to 59.57 million square meters in 2018, according to an annual performance report released Tuesday.

The land bank expansion cost Hong Kong-listed China Resources Land a total of 151.35 billion yuan ($22.54 billion) last year across multiple projects.

Tang Yong, chairman of the board at China Resources Land, said the company’s land bank can now support its next three years of development.

Real estate sales in China fell last year amid government attempts to cool the property market. But industry watchers believe China Resources Land, backed by a state-owned parent company, is less likely be concerned with recouping land costs in the short term.

While other companies often turn to malls or residential projects for short- to medium-term profits, China Resources Land has more room to experiment on longer-term projects like tourism sites and industrial parks, thanks to its parent company’s good financial standing.  

The company’s land bank expansion could also give it more options in the long run, which is an advantage when competing with other state-owned companies, one industry watcher said, as smaller or weaker enterprises often get absorbed by bigger and better-performing ones.