On the property side, he has often alluded to rising land costs in Hong Kong and China. Last year, in a media briefing, Mr Li said in Cantonese that the cost of "flour", or land, now exceeds the price of the "bread," or apartments. Mr Li's fellow octogenarian billionaire Lui Che-Woo earlier this month said he's having trouble reading the city's property market these days. "Recently land prices have surged so much," said Mr Lui, who has spent more than 50 years as a property developer. "I really don't know what's happening right now." Other bidders on the New Territories plot included Wheelock Properties Ltd, Vanke Property (Overseas) Ltd and Sun Hung Kai Properties, the Lands Department said. BLOOMBERG