#Exclusive* SunCity to launch maiden property project in China

PETALING JAYA: Sunway City Bhd (SunCity) plans to unveil its maiden property project in China - the  RM492 million Sunway Guanghao mixed development within the northeastern province of Jiangsu by the middle of  this year, further expanding the Malaysian developer's presence in Asian markets.

Ngian Siew Siong (pictured), the newly-apppointed managing director for Suncity's international property development unit,  said the 17-acre Sunway Guanghao project was located within the central business district of the Jiangyin New  Harbour City.

“We are certainly keen to meet the housing needs of our international customers by introducing green and  environmentally-friendly features in our property projects,"  Ngian who was formerly the captain of  SunCity's  property development unit in Malaysia, told theedgeproperty.com

Sunway Guanghao, a mixed high-rise development comprising 1,100 units of medium-end condominiums and specialty  shops, will have access to urban amenities once the business district is fully developed, according to Ngian.

According to the Jiangyin New Harbour City Investment Promotion Bureau's website, the harbour city is intended  as a growth catalyst for Jiangsu's urban enclaves of Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, Taizhou, and Jiangyin.

This is by virtue of the Jiangyin New Harbour City's market positioning as a commercial, industrial and  logistics enclave to spur economic activity of surrounding areas.

There is more to SunCity's involvement in China's real estate market. Apart from the leasehold project in  Jiangyin, the group is also finalising details for the Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco City mixed project, undertaken  under a collaboration with China-based Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment and Development Co Ltd.

The project sits on several tracts with a collective area of some 40 acres in Tianjin province. Both parties  had in October last year signed a Memorandum of Understanding as initial arrangements for definitive agreements  at a later date.

SunCity's Ngian said a presence in rapidly-expanding China, the world's third largest economy, is deemed  crucial to help SunCity grow its foreign property development unit's profit contribution to about half of the  company's total profits by 2015.

SunCity has come a long way since its maiden overseas venture in Cambodia in December 2004. The company is the  developer of the fully-sold Sunway Toul Kok City, comprising  double-storey villas within a 32.12 acre land in  Phnom Penh.

In India, Suncity has embarked on a partnership with Opus Developers & Builders (P) Ltd of India to develop the  freehold Sunway Opus Grand Residency, an exclusive 30-acre initiative within the suburban area of Ameenpur in   Hyderabad. This project is set to be launched within  the second half of this year.

In Australia, SunCity has a joint-venture deal with Australand Property Group, an Australia-based property  developer,  to undertake a leasehold industrial development known as the Wonderland Business Park in Sydney.