One of Shanghai's top property tycoons yesterday launched what he called Asia's biggest shopping mall outside Japan and said he was considering his next step after a mainland newspaper apologised for mistakenly reporting his arrest.
Eddie Ye Lipei, chairman of the Super Ocean Group, brought forward by five days the start of construction at the Super Ocean Commercial Centre in response to a report in last weekend's China Business that said he had been arrested by authorities and questioned over financial irregularities.
'The newspaper sent a letter of apology yesterday to all the news media. I accepted it. Whether we take further action, including compensation, will depend on their attitude,' Mr Ye said.
The mall, representing an investment of two billion yuan (about HK$1.87 million), covers 280,000 square metres. It is being built 300 metres from the Xinzhuang underground rail stop, which is the terminal of the city's No1 underground line, in the Minhang district. The area has a population of 1.24 million and is expected to rise to 1.45 million by 2005.
The site is surrounded by apartment blocks and villas built by Mr Ye's group. The area, where apartments cost 4,000 yuan to 5,000 yuan per square metre, is popular with the middle class, for whom the underground rail system provides easy access to the city centre.
Construction should take two years and the company is negotiating with possible tenants, including retailers Carrefour and Lianhua. It was designed by United States architectural firm Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz, which designed One Colorado Mall in Los Angeles and the Passy Plaza in Paris.