BEIJING- SOHO China Ltd, one of China's major developers owned by Beijing tycoon Pan Shiyi, said it will withdraw from the residential property sector and turn to commercial projects.
Pan, chairman and co-chief executive officer of SOHO China, said the company will stop building residential units at a forum in Shanghai yesterday. The forum was held as part of the 7th China International Real Estate & Architech Fairs, the nation's biggest real estate industry show.
Pan made his reputation in the late 1990s by hiring high-profile foreign architects to design and build luxurious and avant-garde residential projects.
The company said the market climate and potential government policies will not favor development of luxury properties.
"The central government will concentrate on providing housing solutions to low-and-middle income households next year," said Chen Huai, head of policy research center under the Ministry of Construction, at yesterday's forum.
SOHO said it has started to build a commercial project in downtown Beijing, where it has acquired a plot of land for 1 billion yuan (US$123 million) earlier this year. The project, covering 180,000 square meters, comprises half retail property and half office building.
Besides this project that has overseas funds, the company is also mulling two other commercial projects, Pan said.
Pan, who also publishes books and stars in movies, said his company has halted talks with US property tycoon Donald Trump to cooperate on producing TV programs.
Trump once planned to ask Pan to anchor the Chinese version of his reality hit show, The Apprentice.
Hong Kong developer Shui On Group, controlled by Vincent Lo, has teamed up with Shanghai Dragon TV to produce China's first show which models on The Apprentice. The show aired its last episode of the first season last weekend.
