Guocoland upbeat on China property

Friday, April 23, 2010


Guocoland upbeat on China property


BEIJING: Guocoland Ltd, the developer controlled by Malaysian billionaire Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan, plans to double investment in China property to more than US$9 billion (US$1 = RM3.20) on confidence government efforts to avert a bubble will work.

Guocoland, whose projects include shopping malls, apartments, offices and hotels, said a year ago it planned to invest 33 billion yuan (100 yuan = RM46.93) in new commercial properties in China.

"We should very easily double that," Violet Lee, head of Guocoland's China operations, said in an interview in Beijing.

"We have much more confidence now because we can sense the central government is taking things very seriously."
The Chinese government in March ordered state-owned companies to pull out of property development if it's not part of their main business, creating an opportunity for foreign developers.

The nation last week increased the size of downpayments, raised interest rates on second homes and barred banks from funding purchases of third homes after property prices surged by a record 11.7 per cent in March from a year ago.

"The recent policies focus on curbing demand, but China's urbanisation and the rising demand for housing are still there over the long term," said Dai Fang, a Shanghai-based analyst at Zheshang Securities Co

"With the expectation of a yuan appreciation, it also makes sense for foreign companies to build up investment in China."

Guocoland shares closed 4 cents higher at S$2.36 (S$1 = RM2.33) in Singapore trading yesterday.

Guocoland's new investments will focus on integrated projects in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai as well as provincial centres, Lee said. The company is considering expanding its land holdings.

The Singapore-based developer, part of Malaysia's Hong Leong Group, aims to increase its investments over about two years, Lee said. She also sees a "big, big opportunity" in the Chinese government's demand that 78 state-owned companies exit the property market because real estate isn't their main business.

The company plans to take advantage of the move through "mutually beneficially working relationships," she said.

China this week ordered developers not to take deposits for sales of uncompleted apartments without proper approval and barred them from charging "abnormally high" prices.

Real estate prices in Haikou, capital of the southern island of Hainan, jumped 53.9 per cent last month.

The average cost of land in 105 Chinese cities rose 8.1 per cent in the first quarter from a year earlier to 2,700 yuan per square metre, the Ministry of Land and Resources said yesterday.

By Bloomberg