Century Bridge Invests $44.4 Mil for Housing Project in Wuhan – and more of Today’s China Real Estate Links | July 17, 2013

Here is a list of the day’s latest China real estate news collected from around the web:

• Century Bridge Invests $44.4 Mil for Housing Project in Wuhan

  Century Bridge Capital announced today that it has invested $44.4 million in a joint venture with Coastal Greenland Limited for the development of an in-fill, middle-income, residential project in Wuhan, China. The project will comprise 162,030 square meters and is located in Hankou, Wuhan’s traditional downtown business center. $30.5 million of the funding for the investment was provided by Century Bridge China Real Estate Fund, L.P., with the remaining $14.4 million provided through co-investment. The investment represents the first investment by Century Bridge’s fund, which has over $170 million of total committed capital from nine global institutions.

  Commenting on the investment, Century Bridge CEO, Tom Delatour noted, “This investment in Wuhan is right in line with our strategy of investing in middle-income, residential housing in Tier II cities, which targets opportunities that capitalize on China’s larger urbanization trend.

• Chinese Ministries Squabble over Dodgy Real Estate Data

  The size of China’s investment in real estate has been questioned as data on the subject released recently by government departments has varied and caused confusion.

  An article published on Tuesday by the China Economic Weekly reported that the nation’s land transaction value, calculated and released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), sharply differed from data released by other ministries. The NBS data also varied from those issued by real estate service firms.

• Why China’s Mass Market Malls Should Fear The Rise Of Online Apparel Sales

  China’s e-commerce market has developed from insignificance just a few years ago to become the world’s second largest. Observing such growth, operators of bricks-and-mortar retail properties could be forgiven for wondering whether they will be left behind as shoppers eschew in-store fitting rooms for digital shopping carts. Considering this question through the lens of the apparel sector, we find that malls with mass market positioning may be most at risk.

  China’s online clothing sales already are huge. iResearch estimates that in 2012 apparel was China’s single largest online sector, accounting for RMB 318.8 billion of the country’s RMB 1.18 trillion e-commerce market.

• Mainland Real Estate Buyers Are Accomplishing What The PLA Hasn’t In Taiwan

  For much of the Cold War, rivals Beijing and Taipei hurled insults and shells at each other as a civil war between the two governments starting before World War II dragged on. Now that more recently they have entered a third decade of efforts to build amiable ties through business, mainland real estate investors are accomplishing something the People’s Liberation Army couldn’t back in that earlier period: peacefully settling in on Taiwan soil.

  After years of allowing Taiwanese to buy land on the mainland and profit from its real estate boom, Taipei has gradually been allowing mainland businesses and individuals to buy property in Taiwan.

• China’s Cooling Economy: GDP Fell To 7.5%, Will Drop To 6.9% Next Year

  The global economy may no longer be able to rely on China to be the growth engine it’s been in the past. On Monday, China’s official statistics agency announced the world’s second largest economy grew 7.5% in the second quarter as industrial production and fixed asset investment continued to dip. While the slowdown came in line with analysts’ expectations, it presages further slowdowns, as China’s GDP will probably average 7.5% this year, falling to 6.9% next year, Nomura’s forecasts indicate, which given the size of China’s economy has important implications for global growth going forward.

This list is updated daily, so tune in again tomorrow for more up to date information.