Citigroup property unit closes $1.29 bln Asia fund

NEW YORK, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Citigroup's (C.N) alternative investments unit said on Wednesday that it had finished raising money for a $1.29 billion fund to invest in real estate in the Asia Pacific region with a special focus on China and India.

Citigroup, the largest U.S. banking group, said in a statement that it and its investment professionals are committing $200 million of capital to the fund.

The Hong Kong-based team managing the fund, called CPI Asia Pacific L.P., have so far invested or committed to invest 40 percent of the fund's capital, Citigroup said.

Western funds are arriving in China en masse this year to buy commercial buildings and build housing at a time when some 8 million people are flocking to cities each year.

Indian real estate has also attracted various funds as interest has waned in an increasingly expensive Japan.

Citigroup Property Investors, which raised the fund, said last year that it planned to increase its investment in the Greater China area more than tenfold over the next three years.

Greater China includes Hong Kong and Taiwan as well as mainland China.