CapitaLand, CapitaMalls Asia and Singbridge Holdings have broken the ground on the new Raffles City in Chongqing, China.

CapitaLand and CapitaMalls Asia each own a 25 per cent stake in the development and Singbridge Holdings owns 30 per cent. The remaining 20 per cent will be held by unrelated parties.

Among all its investments in China, Raffles City Chongqing, is CapitaLand’s biggest single investment and the largest single investment by any Singapore firm in China.

Including land cost, the total development value of the project is expected to be about RMB21.1 billion (US$3.34 billion).

Designed by architect Moshe Safdie, Raffles City Chongqing measures more than 1.03 million sqm. It includes a shopping mall, high-end residences, office buildings, serviced residences and a hotel.

The new shopping centre reflects CapitaLand’s strong conviction in China’s continued economic prospects, says Liew Mun Leong, president and CEO of CapitaLand. China is one of CapitaLand’s core markets which accounts for 41 per cent of the group’s total assets.

For Singbridge Holdings, Raffles City Chongqing is its fourth large scale project in China besides Tianjin Eco-City, Guangzhou Knowledge City and Singapore-Sichuan Hi-tech Innovation Park in Chengdu.

First Raffles City was opened in Singapore in 1986. CapitaLand later brought the brand to China in 2003 and has since expanded to eight.

Other than Raffles City in Chongqing, Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing, CapitaLand has other Raffles City developments in Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai that are currently under development while the one in Ningbo will open on September 29.

GB