Dr M has expressed surprise at the terms of Belt and Road projects in Malaysia
Leading today’s roundup, after being elected on an anti-corruption mandate, Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammed says his government will renegotiate billions of dollars of Chinese infrastructure projects in the Southeast Asia nation. Also in the news, Amazon’s cloud computing arm has launched its biggest innovation centre in China, and the Australian-Chinese chairman of Shanghai-based real estate developer Shimao Holdings is now ranked as the fourth-richest mogul Down Under. And there’s more news from Singapore, Thailand and mainland China below.
Malaysia’s Mahathir Calls Chinese Rail Project Damaging to Economy
Malaysia is haggling over the terms of a $14 billion rail deal with its Chinese partners and can reduce its ballooning national debts by $50 billion by doing away with mega projects, its prime minister said in an interview published on Saturday.
Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who triumphed in the recent elections, has made it a priority to cut the national debt and pledged to review major projects agreed by the previous government. The new prime minister took particular exception to the RM55 billion (US$13.82 billion) East Coast Rail Link, saying in a press interview that, “The terms are very damaging to our economy.” Read more>>
Amazon Web Services Launches Biggest China Innovation Centre
The cloud-computing arm of Amazon launched a joint innovation center in Xi’an city in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province Wednesday. It will be the biggest innovation center that Amazon Web Services (AWS) has initiated in China so far, said Rudy Valdez, director of AWS.
The Xi’an-AWS center is aimed to provide cloud-computing services, including web services, new technologies such as cloud-computing and big data, and services support, to global startups. It will focus on incubating startups, helping traditional enterprises’ upgrading and transformation, and helping local startups go global in the next five years. Read more>>
Shimao Property Boss Now 4th Richest Australian Citizen
This time last year, self-made property magnate Hui Wing Mau was only the eighth richest Australian alive with a fortune touching A$6 billion. Fast forward 12 months and the Australian-Chinese businessman, once known as Xu Rongmao, has jumped even Sir Frank Lowy to sit in fourth place on the Financial Review Rich List.
It is the result of his net worth ballooning to A$9.09 billion, edging the Westfield co-founder into fifth with A$8.42 billion. It’s Hui’s best result yet, having first made the BRW Rich 200 (as it was previously known) in 2013 at number 7. The chairman and founder of Hong-Kong based Shimao Property Holdings then climbed as high as number 5 with the release of the 2015 edition. On top of Shimao, he is reported to own more than 45,000 heads of cattle and a majority stake in NSW meat processor and exporter Bindaree Beef. Read more>>
SG’s Last Courtyard Home Goes on Sale for $69M
The House of Tan Yeok Nee, a gazetted national monument at the Penang Road/Clemenceau Avenue junction, is up for sale again. Joint marketing agents Cushman & Wakefield and PropNex Realty said in a statement yesterday that an indicative minimum price of S$93 million ($69 million) is expected for the two-storey freehold property, the last remaining traditional Chinese courtyard house in Singapore.
This translates to about S$1,590 per square foot (psf) on strata area and S$3,109 psf on current lettable area. The property has a land area of 26,321 square feet and a strata area of 58,480 square feet. Its net lettable area is 29,912 square feet. Read more>>
Charn Issara to Build $59M Cha-am Hotel and Condo Project
Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET)-listed Charn Issara Development Plc plans to spend a combined 1.9 billion baht ($59 million) to develop a new hotel, condominium and community mall in Cha-am – a district in Phetchaburi province, western Thailand – plus 2 billion baht to buy land plots in Bangkok for future launches.
Assistant managing director Ditawat Issara said the investment in Cha-am will be for new phases at Thew Talay Estate, a compound of holiday residential projects on a 110-rai site on Phetkasem Road at Cha-am Beach in Phetchaburi province. Read more>>
Hyatt and Jinmao Unveil Rebranded Hotel in China’s Lijiang
Hyatt and the Jinmao Group proudly unveiled Jinmao Hotel Lijiang today, which rebranded from a Grand Hyatt hotel to Jinmao Hotel Lijiang in The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. This marks the first hotel in China for The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. The 305-room Jinmao Hotel Lijiang in the city of Lijiang in China’s southwestern Yunnan province combines traditional architecture with contemporary design, offering guests an authentic taste of the traditional Naxi culture, breathtaking natural views, and a story-worthy experience.
Together, Hyatt and the Jinmao group also announced the renewal of the management agreement for the iconic Grand Hyatt Shanghai, located in the heart of the Lujiazui financial and business center in Shanghai, eastern China. Read more>>
Tune in again tomorrow for more news, and be sure to follow @Mingtiandi on Twitter, or bookmark Mingtiandi’s LinkedIn page for headlines as they happen.
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