[The Standard] No Evergrande plans for HK, Taiwan flats

Source:The Standard

Mandy Lo

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Listing candidate Evergrande Real Estates Group said it will continue to focus on developing home markets in mainland provincial capitals, and will not tap the Hong Kong and Taiwan markets in the foreseeable future.
The developer will also be cautious about expanding to commercial property, chief executive James Xia told Sing Tao Daily, sister newspaper of The Standard.
He said he is optimistic about the Hong Kong home market and he thinks developers will benefit as the city has limited land. Evergrande did not plan to tap the SAR market, "but personally I may buy one or two flats," he added.
The property firm, with the largest land bank in China of 46 million square meters, was reported to have plans to enter the Hong Kong and Taiwan home markets, while mainland media reported that it aims to develop a 438-meter-high commercial building in Wuhan.
Xia said he did not rule out developing office buildings, but the company will consider prudently. "We would strictly control the investment size, even if there were attractive projects available," he said.
Xia said the company is targeting second-tier cities where land prices are relatively cheap.
The developer has projects in 24 Chinese cities, 17 of which are provincial capitals. It has more than 30 projects under construction.