Biz Scene: Local

Land auction

As land prices soar in major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, local and foreign developers are increasingly drawn to second-tier cities such as Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Changsha for land.

Beijing-based Sino-Ocean Land recently outbid Wheelock Properties at an auction for two adjoining sites in Hangzhou's Gongshu District, offering 2.2 billion yuan, or 15,588 yuan per square meter, for the lots.

HKR International will announce the acquisition of a site for mixed development in the Yangtze River delta for an estimated investment of more than 3 billion yuan.

Production base

A large screen wall production base will be built in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Covering an area of 1.7 million square meters, the base in Shenyang Yuanda Industrial Park with a total investment of 4 billion yuan will be put into operation at the end of this year.

Invested by Shenyang-headquartered Yuanda Enterprise Group, it will engage in screen walls, integrated windows and doors, elevator, mechanical and electrical equipment manufacturing, wind power and environment engineering industries.

High-end hotels

At least six high-end hotels will be built before the Spring Festival in Sanya, a coastal city on South China's Hainan Island, to tap the tourist boom over the winter season. According to the city's tourism bureau, hotels in Sanya can accommodate 10 million travelers every year.

(China Daily 11/07/2007 page15)