Online shoppers could receive discounts of up to 2 million yuan ($348,000) on select Vanke apartment projects if they have spent 2 million yuan on Taobao in the past year, according to Bloomberg.

Twenty-three developments in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Xian and Guangzhou, among 12 cities, will qualify until September 30.

Taobao users who spent between 50,000 yuan and 2 million yuan in the past year on the eBay-like website can claim discounts to match the cost of their purchases.

Even home buyers who spent one yuan ($0.17) are eligible for a 50,000-yuan rebate.

The promotion launched on Tuesday and within 12 hours more than 140 online shoppers received 1 million yuan in discounts.

The Vanke-Taobao promotion is the latest creative strategy by property developers to offload apartments amid a downturn in the Chinese property market.

A Melbourne-based company, Investorist, is taking a similar approach to Taobao and eBay as it allows developers to sell off-the-plan apartments to clients like online-shopping products.

The platform allows clients, such as agents and financial planners to visualise and access detailed information on the individual apartments before they buy.

Investorist's international marketing manager Rebecca Zhao said the site had projects from nearly 200 developers across Australia.

Overseas clients can also make reservations on off-the-plan properties in Australia.

"[If] you're an agent, no matter where you are, when you click the reservation [button] or click booking or put [the product]  into your cart, you know exactly what it is," she said.

Ms Zhao said the online platform suited off-the-plan projects as there was no need for physical displays.