Holdings Ltd. to about four percent, giving him more leverage over one of Hong Kong's biggest landlords.

Hongkong Land is one of the Jardine Matheson group of companies registered in Bermuda.

Li has also raised his stake in another member of the $13-billion Jardine Group, Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. While Li has described his intentions as "purely friendly,'' the latest move will give him more sway over Jardine, whose origins -- and acrimony with China -- date back to Britain's arrival in Hong Kong in the 1840s. A decade ago, Li failed twice to take over Hongkong Land, which owns about 40 percent of the central business district.

Those office towers -- whose tenants include Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and the Securities and Futures Commission, the local stock regulator, and investment banks such as Salomon Brothers and Morgan Stanley -- may be the prizes Li wants.

The Keswick family that controls Jardine may be willing to sell them to finance a push into China, said Nikko Research Centre senior analyst Steven Thompson.