THE president of a Shenzhen property development group said Cheung Kong Holdings was considering a stake in the Shenzhen overhead railway. The gross investment for the project was estimated to be three billion yuan (about HK$2.6 billion). Despite Sun Hung Kai Properties' (SHKP) indication that it has scrapped planned involvement in the project because of a lack of manpower, the Shenzhen property group president said SHKP had not abandoned the plan. - SING TAO A SPOKESMAN for Henderson (China) said the company signed two land contracts in Shanghai last month for plots in the eastern and western parts of Nanjing for the development of a shopping arcade and office blocks. The gross developable floor area is estimated at 100,000 square metres. - SING TAO A SENIOR executive at Hopewell Holdings said a 22-kilometre highway linking Guangzhou and Hong Kong would be completed in June as scheduled. A 40-kilometre section of the highway was opened for use in January and present toll receipts were between $7 and $8 million a month. According to an agreement, Hopewell would receive all receipts until June as an incentive for early completion. - ECONOMIC TIMES SHANGHAI Petrochem said the company was talking to Japanese firm Iwatani about possible establishment of a joint venture to develop a petrochemical plant. However, Shanghai Petrochem denied that an agreement had already been reached, but said its investment in the project would be around US$1.7 million. Iwatani said earlier it would invest one billion yuan (about HK$885 million) to establish the plant with a group of Shanghai enterprises led by Shanghai Petrochemical. The plant is expected to have an annual production capacity of 30,000 tonnes by 1995. - ECONOMIC TIMES HARBOUR Ring International said its Whampoa Centre in Shanghai would be up for sale in Hong Kong between Friday and Sunday. The average price is $2,000 per square foot. Seventy per cent of units have already been sold in an internal offering. - ECONOMIC TIMES WHEELOCK and Co bought back 643,000 shares at prices between $18.70 and $18.80 per share on April 14. C P Pokphand repurchased 420,000 shares at prices between $2.30 and $2.325 each on the same day. - ECONOMIC TIMES THE share price of Chinese Estates took a tumble in last Friday's trading resulting from a fall in profits and its decision not to pay dividends. - ECONOMIC TIMES THE World Trade Plaza in Tsim Sha Tsui, jointly owned by Lippo Ltd and Pearl Oriental Holdings, will be offered for sale today at prices between $9,504 and $42,984 per sq ft. A total of 130 retail shops will be offered. - SING TAO A SHA Tin industrial property developed by Sino Land was placed on the market last Friday. Eighty units on five floors were offered and 50 per cent were said to have been sold. - SING TAO TWO floors in Admiralty Centre 1 and Admiralty Centre 2 have changed hands for a total of $274.29 million. The average price of Floor 6 in Admiralty Centre 1 was $13,500 per sq ft, setting a record for the property. - SING TAO IFC, a sister organisation of the World Bank, has officially approved Peregrine's application to manage an Asian infrastructure investment fund. The fund will specialise in private project investments, including utilities, transportation and telecommunications. - SING TAO A DEVELOPMENT project for two plots sold in the Government land auction two years ago is 20 months behind schedule. The adjacent sites are estimated to have a gross developable floor area of 723,000 sq ft. The project's developers are Hang Lung Development and Lai Sun Development. Sources say the sites are located near the Tai Po railway station and the developers have been involved in a dispute over noise pollution with the Department of the Environment. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL A SOURCE close to Hopewell Holdings said it is applying to Guangdong authorities for an increase in road tolls for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen highway. If the application is successful, the toll per kilometre will be raised from $0.80 to $0.90. - ECONOMIC JOURNAL FIRST Pacific said the group's telecom operations would take off from 1995, with the telecom division expected to contribute as much as 40 per cent of 1996 profits. The company has established mobile telecom networks in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Indonesia. First Pacific is studying a number of projects in co-operation with its Beijing partner, focusing on mobile telecommunications. The company expects mainland operations to contribute to earnings within two years. - ECONOMIC TIMES CENTURY City said that its land reserves were only sufficient for three more years of developments. Chairman and managing director Y S Lo said Century would continue to add to its land bank and that a large amount of land was available for development on the mainland. - ECONOMIC TIMES A SOURCE close to Lippo Ltd said the group would soon sell the remaining floor of Sun Plaza to two buyers. The price was said to be in excess of $156 million, an average of $12,000 per sq ft. - ECONOMIC TIMES THE investment community is concerned whether Jardine Fleming will be allowed to underwrite issues by mainland state enterprises after its decision to de-list from Hong Kong. However, chairman Alan Smith said the company would continue to expand its operations on the mainland and was applying to set up a representative office in Beijing. - MING PAO
