China's Red Cross Society has been accused of developing real estate projects in the guise of an elderly caring program.

Launched in 2004, Yaoyang Elderly Apartment's luxurious amenities far exceed the standard of nursing homes for the aged, stirring speculation that the society was engaged in the real estate business in the name of charitable program, Caijing Magazine reported yesterday.

Projects have been completed in Beijing, Yangzhou City in Jiangsu Province and Hangzhou City in Zhejiang Province. There are plans for 10 such apartment complexes to be completed across the country by 2015.

The apartments were only for lease and the tenants didn't own property rights, said Wu Angping, an official with the Red Cross Foundation which is administered by the Red Cross Society, according to the report. However, other evidence points to apartments in the Beijing project being for sale.

According to the project's official microblog on Soufun.com, a national real estate news portal, Yaoyang Elderly Apartment in Beijing had apartments with one to five bedrooms and villas. All are on sale with property rights, the online information said.

An unnamed salesperson said apartments were for sale at 14,000 yuan per square meter. Alternatively, its yearly rental would be around 58,000 yuan.

The land of the project had been provided by the government free of charge, according to official records.