China developer Greenland views e-sports as engine that will drive traffic to its malls and hotels
Sixth largest property company by sales – which plans to create country’s largest e-sports platform – has invested 60 million yuan in start-up
Greenland Holdings, China’s sixth largest property developer by sales, wants to tap the rising popularity of e-sports to drive traffic and sales at its properties.
The Shanghai-based company wants to create the mainland’s largest business platform for e-sports in two to three years, and plans to build e-sport towns and stadiums in the country’s 10 largest cities.
“We envision an ecosystem of e-sports and it will become an important part of the group’s businesses,” said Geng Jing, a vice-president of Greenland and chairman of Greenland Financial. “E-sports attract people to visit shopping malls, and it is like a magnet to help gather people.”
The developer will begin work on its first e-sport stadium, which will have at least 30,000 seats, in Shanghai’s Qingpu district, before March. Greenland also plans to build e-sport “towns” and theme parks at its large mixed-use developments in cities that include Shanghai, Beijing, Wuhan and Chengdu, said Geng.
The foray into e-sports represents a latest effort by Greenland to diversify beyond property as it pursues new growth engines. For the first half of 2017, its reported net profit stood at 4.66 billion yuan (US$718.35 million), up 1.3 per cent from a year earlier.
Greenland has a presence in more than 80 mainland cities, and most of its projects are either large-scale mix-use developments or skyscrapers. The e-sport towns will be built along its commercial properties, and will eventually drive up foot traffic at its shopping malls and occupancy at its hotels, said Geng.