Anbang Denies $400 Mil Kushner Deal and More Asia Real Estate Headlines

Anbang boss Wu Xiaohui just can’t keep himself out of the headlines, but at least today he appears to be trying. The controversial finance wizard’s mainland insurer dominates today’s news as it denies a $400 million deal reported yesterday. Also in the news,

Anbang Denies $400 Mil Kushner Deal

China’s Anbang Insurance Group said it is not investing in a flagship Manhattan office tower owned by the family of Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser.

Anbang Insurance Group was named in a Bloomberg report on Monday as a possible investor in a $4 billion deal to buy the 41-floor building located at 666 Fifth Avenue, according to a copy of the agreement that was being circulated to attract additional investors. Read more>>

R&F Pleads for $1 Bil in Forex for Overseas Projects

Property developer R&F Properties is calling on the authorities in China to make a special case for its investment in Africa and Southeast Asia, as the lengthy and unpredictable approval process for moving money overseas may be jeopardising their international projects.

“We applied for US$1 billion worth of overseas investment quota to the state foreign exchange authority more than two months ago, but have not yet received approval,” Zhang Li, founder and co-chairman of Hong Kong-listed R&F Properties told the South China Morning Post in Beijing on Sunday. Read more>>

China’s Aqualand Buys Sydney Office Tower for A$140M

Chinese-backed residential developer Aqualand has acquired the Samsung office building at 61 Lavender Street in the Sydney harbour-front suburb of Milsons Point for $140 million, with plans to convert it into a luxury apartment project.

The seller, real estate investment company Barana Group, sold the property with a development approval allowing Aqualand to build 135 apartments in a 20-storey tower. Read more>>

Pricey Central Office Space in High Demand with Mainland Firms

Mainland Chinese firms are showing no signs of slowing their expansion in Hong Kong, the world’s most expensive office market.

After a record year of mainland enterprises snapping up 43 per cent of all new lettings in the city’s Central financial district, industry experts say demand continues to grow as firms remain on the “waiting list” to take space in skyscrapers in the area. Read more>>

Moody’s Warns on Headwinds for Chinese Developers

Ratings agency Moody’s Investor Services has warned that Chinese developers will face increasing competition, after the Chinese government said it would fine-tune some measures to curtail price hikes in some cities.

This could see the developers face very stiff competition as they try to snap up market share amid the increased regulatory controls, according to a new report. Read more>>

China Retail Sales Grew 9.5% in Jan-Feb – Missing Estimates

Retail trade in China began 2017 with a cumulative increase of 9.5 per cent between January and February — as compared to the same period in 2016 — which is below economists’ expectations of 10.5 percent and also its slowest growth in 11 years since February 2006, official date revealed on Tuesday.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics data, with a slowdown in trade, investment in fixed assets rose to 8.9 per cent year-on-year making it its largest rise since June with real estate reaching its peak in two years to stand at 8.9 per cent and industrial production accelerating to 6.3 per cent year-on-year — three-tenths more than in December, Efe news reported. Read more>>

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

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