CHINA'S leading commercial real estate developer Dalian Wanda Group said today that it is spending 1.02 billion pounds (US$1.6 billion) on two investments in Britain.

This is the latest move by the company to increases its overseas presence.

Wanda is controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, who was ranked the second in the 2013 New Fortune 500 Rich List released last month with 54 billion yuan (US$8.8 billion) in personal assets.

It will pay 320 million pounds for a 91.8-percent stake in British yachtmaker Sunseeker International Ltd and invest 700 million pounds in a property project in central London.

With a total gross floor area of 105,000 square meters, the development will include a 20,000-square-meter premium luxury hotel and a pair of 200-meter tall apartment towers.

These will be the highest residential buildings in London, Wanda announced at a press conference held in Beijing.

China's National Development and Reform Commission has already approved the stake purchase plan, according to Wanda.

Wanda last year became the world's biggest owner of movie theaters after acquiring AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc, the second-largest cinema chain in the US, for US$2.6 billion.