The head of CapitaLand Group says second-tier cities in China hold a great deal of potential for property development.
Chief executive Liew Mun Leong told Channel NewsAsia he is on the lookout for value properties in China to grow the Singapore-based company, despite Chinese government measures to cool investment.
He pointed to a 30 percent growth last year in tenant sales in second-tier Chinese cities such as Chongqing in the south-western province of Sichuan, compared with 10 percent growth in Singapore.
Mr Liew noted that Chongqing had come up tops in more than 10 economic indicators among Chinese cities in 2011.
CapitaLand this week sealed its biggest ever single Chinese deal, with a development in Chongqing, which Mr Liew said would be the company’s fourth core Chinese market after Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.
The S$4 billion project is a mixed development comprising a shopping mall and eight towers for residential, office and hotel use.
Mr Liew added that the yet-to-be-named project in Chao Tian Men is the first large footprint for CapitaLand in Western China.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 12 Jan 2012