China's Greenland Bets on E-Sports to Sell Properties

Greenland wants to build more stadiums for people to watch computer games

Today’s news roundup takes a detour into China’s booming e-sports scene, with top-six mainland developer Greenland pledging to build stadiums and theme parks across the country’s biggest cities to cater to legions of computer gaming fanatics. Another top property group is in the headlines as China’s richest woman adds a couple billion more dollars to her net worth, and logistics builder GLP is jumping on the New Silk Road bandwagon, at least in name. Read on for more details.

Greenland To Build Arenas for China’s E-Sports Addicts

Greenland Holdings, China’s sixth largest property developer by sales, wants to tap the rising popularity of e-sports to drive traffic and sales at its properties. The Shanghai-based company wants to create the mainland’s largest business platform for e-sports in two to three years, and plans to build e-sport towns and stadiums in the country’s 10 largest cities.

The developer will begin work on its first e-sport stadium, which will have at least 30,000 seats, in Shanghai’s Qingpu district, before March. Greenland also plans to build e-sport “towns” and theme parks at its large mixed-use developments in cities that include Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and Chengdu, said Geng. Read more>>

UBS Forecasts Zero Growth in China’s 2018 Property Sales

The Chinese government’s efforts to cool the property sector may finally pay off in 2018, with UBS forecasting zero growth in real estate transactions for the entire year.

Real estate purchases slowed in the second half of last year after authorities intensified crackdowns on speculative buying. Soaring demand for properties and a rapid build-up in debt had stoked fears of potential fallout in the world’s second-largest economy, which would have had global consequences. Read more>>

Frasers Centrepoint Plans $225M Perpetual Bond Issue

Frasers Centrepoint Limited (FCL) is planning to raise S$300 million ($225 million) from a bond issue, the real estate company said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Monday night (Jan 8) after market close.

The bonds will carry a fixed interest rate of 4.38 percent per annum and be issued by its wholly-owned subsidiary, FCL Treasury. The bonds – in denominations of S$250,000 – are expected to be issued on Jan 17, 2018. Read more>>

Country Garden Share Surge Makes Yang Huiyan $2.1B Richer

A share surge at Country Garden Holdings, China’s largest developer by sales, has sent vice-chairman Yang Huiyan’s wealth up by US$2.1 billion – in just the first four trading days of the year.

Ms Yang, the controlling shareholder of Country Garden, saw her fortune soar to US$25.6 billion as of last Friday, making her the fifth-richest person in the nation, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. That was before Country Garden’s shares rose another 7.4 per cent yesterday in Hong Kong trading, taking its year-to-date gain to 17 per cent. Read more>>

GLP Approved To Issue $1.8B in Belt & Road-Themed Bonds

Logistics facilities provider Global Logistic Properties (GLP) is set to be the first company to issue onshore Belt and Road (B&R) bonds.

GLP announced on Friday in a Singapore Exchange filing that its Chinese arm, GLP China, has received approval from the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to issue up to RMB 12 billion ($1.8 billion) of B&R bonds on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. The funds raised will be used to repay existing debt arising from GLP’s recent purchase of logistics assets in Europe. Read more>>

Lanzhou Easing May Signal China Real Estate Policy Shift

The Chinese city of Lanzhou has eased property curbs amid a nation-wide clampdown on housing speculation, raising concerns that other cities may follow suit which will further inflate price bubbles in the sector.

The provincial capital of China’s northwestern Gansu province, with a population of 3.6 million, lifted property tightening measures in the suburbs while relaxing some restrictions on home purchases in downtown areas, according to a notice posted on the website of the city’s housing authority late on Friday. Read more>>

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