After Sincere saga, property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng visits China to talk green projects
Claudia Chong
THE chairman of Asian conglomerate Hong Leong Group recently met Shanghai mayor Gong Zheng in China, where the pair discussed business issues and potential collaboration on sustainability projects, the company said.
Kwek Leng Beng, who is also chairman of real estate group City Developments (CDL), said that he remains confident in the potential of the Chinese market and intends to expand Hong Leong’s portfolio.
Hong Leong’s portfolio company, Singapore-listed CDL, struggled with its China expansion during the pandemic as a result of a deal with Chinese developer Sincere Property Group.
The joint-venture deal, spearheaded by Kwek’s son Sherman Kwek in 2019, is said to have driven a rift within the family. It caused CDL to incur losses of S$1.78 billion in FY2020 and S$80.7 million in FY2022.
With a pipeline of 64 projects, the Sincere deal was set to be CDL’s most ambitious expansion into China yet. But the onslaught of Covid-19 and regulatory upheaval in the local real estate market soon crushed the project’s prospects.
The younger Kwek, who is CEO of CDL, has had to contend with a slew of board departures over concerns about the Sincere investment. CDL eventually sold its stake for US$1.
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Since then, the company has tried to turn things around. In a press statement on Friday (Jun 16), Hong Leong outlined its long history with China, which dates back to the 1980s when its first China hotel Millennium Harbourview Xiamen was developed.
CDL’s China arm has, since 2010, acquired development sites and assets totalling close to two million square metres of gross floor area in Shanghai, Suzhou, Chongqing and Shenzhen, the group said.
CDL is considering exploring opportunities in several areas in Shanghai, said Sherman Kwek, who was present at the meeting with the city’s mayor.
The opportunities include upgrading and revitalisation of old districts, construction of technology parks and sustainable buildings, and the enhancement of Shanghai’s four distinct brands in services, manufacturing, shopping and culture.
“I was deeply impressed by the development and economic vitality of Shanghai,” said Kwek Leng Beng, who is among a group of international business heads paying visits to Chinese leaders since the country’s reopening.
“There are abundant opportunities for investment and collaboration, to create more iconic projects and deepen cooperation with the Shanghai government to achieve green and low-carbon developments in the city,” he added.
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