Ascott expands in China with two serviced residences in Chegdu and Beijing

The two properties, namely the Ascott Financial City Chengdu and the Somerset Wangjing Beijing, are scheduled to open in 2014 and 2013 respectively.

CapitaLand’s wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited, has clinched contracts to manage two more properties in Chengdu and Beijing. The 181-unit Ascott Financial City Chengdu, which is the first premier Ascott-branded serviced residence in Chengdu, is slated to open in 2014. The 187-unit Somerset Wangjing Beijing, which is the first international brand of serviced residence in Beijing’s thriving Wangjing business area, is scheduled to open in 2013.

With the latest additions, Ascott has further strengthened its leadership position as the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in China and is on track to achieve 12,000 apartment units in the country by 2015.

Mr Lee Chee Koon, Ascott’s Managing Director for North Asia, said: “We are pleased to secure two more management contracts which add over 360 apartment units to our portfolio. Ascott will now have around 7,000 apartment units in 38 serviced residences across 16 cities in China. Our quick expansion in China demonstrates the importance of the country as a key growth market for us and our strong confidence in its future development. We will continue to tap on more opportunities in tier-1 cities like Beijing where we still see abundant demand for international serviced residences from business travellers and tourists. In the mean time, we aredeepening our presence in high growth cities such as Chengdu where foreign direct investment and tourism are expected to increase exponentially in the next few years.”