Li Ka-Shing, Asia's richest man with a net worth of $31 billion according to Forbes, has gone on record to say that his real estate business has suffered its worst year in over a decade as government efforts to cool property prices take their toll, local media reports show.

In an interview with a Guangzhou-based newspaper, the billionaire said that Hong Kong and Mainland China land prices are suffering an "unhealthy trend."

"We only recorded about HK$4 billion ($519.97 million) of property sales for the entire year, merely 15 per cent of the total sales in between HK$26 billion and HK$27 billion during the past two years," Li was quoted as saying. 

Li owns several properties in China, including Cheung Kong Holdings, one of the largest property firms in Hong Kong, and Hutchison Whampoa, the ports-to-telecoms conglomerate. According to reports, Li has so far this year sold four major real estate assets in China, the most recent being a $1.16 billion office project in Shanghai. 

Despite the turnout, Li was quick to douse speculation that he is retreating from the China property market, calling rumours "a big joke". In follow-up interview with the Chinese newspaper's sister publication, he said that his core real estate business still owns around 3.8 million square meters of property in Hong Kong and 5 million square metres in China, so to say that he withdrawing investments from the market is "a stretch, a big joke."