Inter IKEA invests 1b euros in Chinese shopping centers – and more of Today’s China Real Estate Links | June 7, 2013

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

• Inter IKEA invests 1b euros in Chinese shopping centers

  Danish Inter Ikea Center Group is investing 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in the already crowded Chinese shopping center space, in a bid to boost efforts in one of its biggest markets.

  IICG said that it has invested in three shopping centers in China, located in Beijing, Wuhan and Wuxi, with the first mall due to open early next year.

  On Wednesday, the company announced the completion of the Beijing shopping center, which is located around the south fourth ring road.

• American Apparel In China: First-Tier Strategy Targets Trendy Niche

  Few brands can claim notoriety for both marketing and labor policies like American Apparel, known in the United States for its provocative advertisements and vocal advocacy of a sweatshop-free production model. The former fastest growing retailer in America has two stores each in Beijing and Shanghai and opened its first shop-in-shop in Hong Kong last month in a partnership with Lane Crawford subsidiary LAB Concept, which is also a partner with Topshop for its upcoming June 6 Hong Kong store opening. To get the scoop on the company’s Hong Kong and mainland promotional strategies and China’s evolving retail market, Jing Daily reached out to American Apparel China Marketing Manager Olivia Mok on selling “Made in USA” to “the world’s factory.”

• Shanghai Tops Investment And Development Prospects Says ULI

  There has been a substantial recovery in market sentiment for Chinese real estate, with Shanghai topping the rankings for both investment and development prospects, according to the Urban Land Institute’s Mainland China Cities Survey 2013. The significant revival in market confidence is demonstrated by Shanghai, Suzhou, Beijing and Wuhan, the top four cities in this year’s report, all receiving better scores than the highest ranked city for 2012, which was Chengdu.

  This improved market sentiment is underpinned by wider confidence in the Chinese economy, with respondents once again taking it as given that China’s gross domestic product growth and population size, combined with its military spending and technological investment, would make it the largest economy in the world by 2030. In addition, more investors are seeing the real estate opportunities provided by both China’s growing middle class, which already numbers 300 million people, and its younger population, which is more inclined and financially able to spend on housing and lifestyle purchases than previous generations.

• Topshop takes first step into China with new Hong Kong flagship store

  Topshop, the popular British high street brand, stakes its claim in Hong Kong’s crowded fashion retail market with the opening today of its flagship store in Central.

  The company’s 14,000 square foot, two-floor shop at the corner of Queen’s Road Central and Pottinger Street also marks the first step in its search for a home on the mainland, where managing director Mary Homer said expansion in major cities was planned.

• China’s real estate sector at crossroads

  The Chinese real estate industry has reached a crossroads, and Han Qingtao is well aware of it.

  The director of China Poly Group Corporation’s real estate department – the second-largest real estate company in the country – said that it is crucial that Chinese real estate companies be in top form due to changing economic circumstances.

  “The Chinese real estate industry was complicated in the past few years,” Han said.

  “But it’s vital that the industry transforms itself, and quickly, if it hopes to establish itself, especially as the market cools.”

• Cushman & Wakefield Opens an Office in Taiwan

  Cushman & Wakefield, the world’s largest privately owned real estate services firm, announced today that it has expanded its Greater China operations into Taiwan by opening its first office in Taipei.

  Sanjay Verma, CEO for Asia Pacific commented: “Cushman & Wakefield has been aggressively expanding its business in Asia Pacific, and our Taipei office is our 6th new Asia Pacific office in the past 18 months. I strongly believe this new office will help us further increase the depth and breadth of our service offerings to our global clients and provides us with the opportunity to leverage Taiwan’s expanding economy which is one of the important economies in Asia Pacific.””

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