Shanghai free trade zone land value to soar

Mainland property developers with land in or near the pro- posed 28-square-kilometre free-trade zone in Pudong, Shanghai, must feel like they have won the lottery.

The value of their land looks set to soar thanks to plans to transform the area into a Hong Kong-style free port. The zone mainly encompasses the Waigaoqiao area, Yangshan port and some land parcels surrounding Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Analysts named four mainland-listed developers - Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone Development, Shanghai Lujiazui Finance & Trade Zone Development, Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park Development and Shanghai Jinqiao Export Processing Zone Development - as the biggest winners after the free-trade zone was announced on July 3.

"They have the largest land bank in those areas," said Zhang Qi, an analyst at Shanghai-based Haitong Securities.

Frank Chen, executive director of China research at international property consultancy CBRE, said the news would boost land values.

"There will definitely be a boost in land values, not only for land in the zone but also sites around it once the … zone is officially marked out and established," he said.