Wahaha Group Co, China's largest beverage company, aims to invest 10 billion Yuan on a high-end shopping mall in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, within three years in order to lure European luxury companies. The company will make a 1 billion Yuan ($157 million) initial investment. One Chinese Yuan is equivalent to $157 USD.
According to the Qianjiang Evening News, the project will represent Wahaha's foray into commercial real estate, a step the business was not eager to take at the moment. According to the media, Wahaha's Chairman Zong Qinghou is in Europe conducting due diligence on first- and second-tier brands.
Zong is regarded as one of China's wealthiest businessmen. buy and sell qatar
Wahaha is diversifying its business due to narrower and falling profit margins in the beverage industry, according to analysts. In recent years, more new companies have entered the beverage business, resulting in strong competition.
In November, Wahaha will organize a promotion conference in Hangzhou, where brand representatives and business delegates from 80 countries will hear about Zong's new diversification goals. According to numerous news sources, several first- and second-tier beverage brands from around the world have yet to enter China and are planning to open shops there.
Despite telling reporters covering the National People's Congress and the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in March that his company would stay away from commercial development projects, Zong has done exactly that.
In order to compete with Wal-Mart and Carrefour, he now aims to enter the retail sector and develop 100 supermarkets in China over the next five years.
Zong, on the other hand, denies claims that his company will soon be listed on the stock exchange. He claims that Wahaha needs to grow to a certain size before coming public.
Happy Land Purchase Days! Go back to Beijing.
More than a year after the government enforced strict property sales laws, home sales in Beijing are on the rise.
After the government announced a mix of credit and tax policies, limited the purchase of second or third homes in several locations, and built major subsidized housing projects for low-income inhabitants, the real estate market in China's capital had cooled.
Premier Wen Jiabao promised on July 7 that the government will continue to examine real estate market restrictions in the hopes of reducing property speculation.
Nonetheless, according to China Daily, there have been hints of growth in recent weeks, with rising land purchases.
Two land proposals in particular scored well. According to the Beijing Land Reserve Center, a government entity in charge of public land management, a 53,870-square-meter property in the southern neighborhood of Daxing was auctioned for 2.2 billion yuan (about $346 million US).
The winning team plans to develop the area for residential dwellings as well as supplemental commercial space that would ordinarily be earmarked for stores, restaurants, and offices.
Another block of prime residential land totaling 113,816 square meters was auctioned for 428 million yuan in the city's far northern outskirts, where property prices are low. Developers told the Beijing Land Reserve Center that the size of the dirt was a factor in their decision to bid on it.
The bids came just a week after a record residential land bid of 2.63 billion yuan was made for a 38,900-square-meter site in Haidian district, which is home to the Zhongguancun tech industry zone.
"As developers recover from financial difficulties following a boom in home sales, demand for top-rated land has surged," Zhang Dawei, a chief market analyst with Zhongyuan Real Estate, told China Daily.
According to Zhang, the housing market, particularly in Beijing's most sought-after areas, is projected to revive. However, in less-than-ideal places, the market will stay sluggish.