Blackrock Turns Positive on China Property

Blackrock’s head of China equities, Helen Zhu

Every day Mingtiandi scans the web and curates the day’s biggest stories for you. Here’s what we found today:

Blackrock Turns Positive on China Property Stocks

As China transitions from an old investment-fuelled economy to one that is services-oriented, BlackRock head of China equities Helen Zhu is beating the drums for a distinctly old economy sector: property.

“Most people hate Chinese property. We’re putting our neck out there and saying, you know what, it’s all in the price, and in fact the delta of change is very positive,” Ms Zhu told The Business Times on Monday. Read more>>

Wang Jianlin Bumps Jack Ma From Top of China Rich List

Wang Jianlin, founder and chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, has been ranked the “Richest Property Tycoon” in China’s mainland for the fifth time by Hurun Report, which published yesterday its 10th issue of Hurun Property Rich List.

With a real estate fortune of 120 billion yuan (US$18.9 billion), or a year-on-year gain of 9 percent after a successful Hong Kong listing in December, Wang, 61, snatched back the title of the richest man on the mainland from Alibaba’s Jack Ma in the Hurun Rich List 2015 released earlier this month. Read more>>

Kuafu Goes For $50M in EB-5 Money for New York Project

Following a recent trip to China, executives from Kuafu Properties have started bringing in foreign financing through the EB-5 visa program for their $340 million East 86th Street mixed-use development, the developers told Commercial Observer.

Kuafu and two outside partners have thus far taken in $1.5 million from three investors through the federal program, which allows foreigners to invest in new United States businesses that create jobs in exchange for a path to U.S. citizenship. The objective is to bring in $49.5 million from 99 investors paying $500,000 a piece toward the $340 million project, according to Christopher Sameth, the head of acquisitions for Kuafu Properties. Read more>>

Moody’s Says Evergrande’s Non-Public Onshore Bonds are Credit Positive

Moody’s Investors Service says that Evergrande Real Estate Group Limited’s (B1 negative) non-public domestic bond issuance is credit positive because it will help the company reduce its average borrowing costs and improve its liquidity profile.

“Although the costs of issuance for the non-public onshore bonds are higher than those for the public onshore bonds issued by Evergrande in June, the company will still be able to lower its average borrowing costs because of this issuance,” says Franco Leung, a Moody’s Vice President and Senior Analyst. Read more>>

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