Wang Jianlin Fends Off Jack Ma to Remain China’s Richest Man and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Leading the news today, Wanda boss Wang Jianlin has kept his title as China’s richest man, according to at least one survey. Elsewhere the headlines are dominated by efforts to control, exploit or otherwise have fun with the flow of China’s supply of hot money into real estate. We’ve got all these stories for you just a few lines down, and I promise more updates later today.

Wang Jianlin Fends Off Jack Ma to Remain China’s Richest Man

Chinese property magnate Wang Jianlin has defended his crown as the country’s richest man, according to the annual Hurun rich list, fending off Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) founder Jack Ma and new players on the block like Baoneng’s Yao Zhenhua.

Wang, the chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, took the top spot with a personal fortune of $32.1 billion, the report said, despite Ma, the founder of e-commerce giant Alibaba, seeing his wealth surge 41 percent from 2015. Read more>>

Is China’s Real Estate Bubble Inflating Hong Kong’s?

One country, two bubbles. Yet their fates are tightly coupled.

Hong Kong, a semiautonomous Chinese city with its own legal system and currency, has one of the priciest homes in the world. UBS, for example, said last month that bubble risk seems “imminent” in the city’s real estate, as well as in five other global cities such as London and Vancouver. The living space for a person in Hong Kong averages to only 14 square meters, about half the size of a single-car garage, it said. The Swiss bank’s report, however, didn’t look at cities in mainland China. Things there may be even frothier. Read more>>

China Regulators Vow to Stanch Illicit Funding Channels

China’s financial regulators plan to further tighten control on funds flowing into the property market in violation of current rules, according to people familiar with the matter.

Authorities including the central bank, the China Banking Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission aim to tighten control on speculative real-estate investments and money involved in land transactions, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the information isn’t public. Read more>>

Shenzhen Plans “Small Fund City” in Qianhai

Officials in Qianhai, China’s special economic zone next to Shenzhen, are planning to build a new 150,000 square metre “small fund town” in a bid to attract more asset management firms, the latest effort by Beijing to promote the site as a financial services hub.

Qianhai Financial Holdings, the Qianhai Authority’s investment arm, is teaming up with Shenzhen Metro to build 29 major buildings capable of housing around large 100 fund operations. Construction on the complex is expected to be complete by October next year. Read more>>

Mainland Asset Manager Breaks Ground on Hong Kong Condo Complex

China Huarong Asset Management, one of the mainland’s biggest financial asset management firms, has broken ground on its first property investment in Hong Kong in a move to tap growing demand from the mainland.

Through its property unit Huarong Real Estate, the asset management firm on Thursday will start construction work on a residential tower at Mosque Street, Mid Levels West. Total construction and land costs for the 49,000 square foot tower will be more than HK$1 billion, according to the company. Read more>>

Magnificent Hotels Owner Hopes to Convert Hospitality into Housing

Hong Kong’s tourism downturn may provide an answer to the city’s housing problem if government amends its policy to allow hotel rooms to be put up for sale or for rental, helping to ease the housing supply shortage, according to a real estate investment executive.

Magnificent Hotel Investments chairman William Cheng Kai-ming has urged the government to amend policies to allow the sale or long term rental of hotel rooms, saying that it makes sense to tweak the rules in light of the high prices for homes and a structural change in the number of tourists visiting the city. Read more>>

Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter for headlines as they happen.