HONGKONG: BlackRock Inc is ready to increase its China real estate portfolio exposure as it sees good entry points following the weakness in the nation’s economy and credit environment, a senior executive of the US money manager said September 7. John Saunders, Head of Asia-Pacific Real Estate at BlackRock, told that the fund would target mass-affluent shopping malls and grade ‘A’ and ‘B’ offices in China’s first- tier and selective second-tier cities for investments. “We see the current malaise as a good entry point that we believe will throw up some good opportunities,” Saunders said. New York-based BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, oversees about USD eight billion in property investments in Asia. “For a period in time we didn’t do a lot in China, because the pricing didn’t seem conducive for us to make returns, whilst underwriting reasonable levels of growth. Now that picture has changed and China has become our key market for sure. It has been softening for the past 18 to 24 months,” Saunders added.