Hong Kong/China Property Daily:Inside the Great Wall

As reported by mainland media source Hexun, Wanda and R&F (2777.HK)have signed a strategic framework cooperation agreement. From 2017 to2021, the parties will jointly develop five commercial complex projects eachyear. Thus, during the next five years, 25 complex projects with a totalinvestment of RMB30bn will be developed. R&F will be responsible for theinvestment and development of the projects, while Wanda will be responsiblefor the design and operation of the malls. The malls will be operated under thebrand of Wanda Plaza. The first five projects in 2017 will be located in Tier-1and Tier-2 cities. (Hexun).

    Economic Information Daily under Xinhuanet published an article to interpretthe key message from the Central Economic Work Conference, which endedlast week. It quoted "progress in stability", a phrase from the summary for theConference, and explained further that risk management is pivotal to thedevelopment of the economy of China in 2017. Key risks for the economyinclude financial bubbles, excessive growth in property prices and excessiveleverage in corporations. (Wallstreetcn).

    The Transport and Housing Bureau published its annual review of Hong Kong’sten-year housing target. The ten-year total housing supply target should rangefrom 417,000 to 497,000 units, with the mid-point being 457,000 units,rounding off to 460,000 units as the total housing supply target for the ten-yearperiod from 2017-18 to 2026-27. The target is the same as what had beenstated last year. The public/private ratio is also maintained at 6/4, i.e. publichousing supply of 280,000 units and private housing supply of 180,000 units.

    The report revealed that despite an unchanged target on public housing,inadequate land for public housing is becoming a more serious problem. Thegovernment stated that it had only found land sufficient to build 236,000 publichousing units in the next 10 years, indicating that it is still short of land to buildthe remaining 44,000 public housing units. The gap has widened from lastyear’s deficit of 25,000 units. (HKEJ)