The world's largest private equity firm Blackstone Group agreed to sell a 95 percent stake in Shanghai Channel1 shopping mall to Hong Kong's New World Development Co. for 1.46 billion yuan (US$228 million), marking its first withdraw from China's real estate market.

The deal is scheduled to close in early November, sources familiar with the matter said.

Blackstone purchased the 42,000-square-meter-large properties for 1 billion yuan (US$156 million) in 2008. Occupancy has risen more than 90 percent over the three years Blackstone has owned the property.

Blackstone's exit at a time when real estate earnings remain stable is difficult to understand, analysts said, but they speculated that Blackstone is bearish on China's commercial real estate market.

A spokesman for Blackstone declined to comment on the deal. New World Development Co. has also yet to make a comment.