From IFC to iAPM, Shanghai clones Hong Kong malls

A woman walks past the towering ICC complex then attends a class at Pure Yoga. After the workout, she grabs something to eat at city'super before heading to browse at Lane Crawford in Times Square. You might assume from the names that this is taking place in Hong Kong. But it is in fact Shanghai.

Already a rival to Hong Kong for clout as a global finance centre, Shanghai is stepping up its offerings as a shopping capital, too. Carbon copies of Hong Kong shopping landmarks have popped up in the city, replicating Hong Kong's retail scene from the names right down to the design of the buildings.

Gleaming new mall iAPM, which houses well-known Hong Kong brand city'super and has a Pure Yoga studio, opened in August. The Sun Hung Kai Properties development is anchored by a two-storey Prada store and sister brand Miu Miu, and more than a dozen other luxury brands. The soaring ceilings and curves of shop windows mimic its sister project in Kwun Tong.

"I live next door to iAPM and it's literally like having Hong Kong right there," says Jacqueline Kwok, a Hongkonger who has been working in Shanghai for the past three years.

Shanghai native Cai Renbin says the malls are an exciting development, which cements Shanghai's status as a world-class city. "I really like those modern buildings. As a local Shanghainese, I'm actually quite proud of seeing the construction because it can prove Shanghai is an international city," he says. "Shanghai will be more like Hong Kong in the future."

The cloning of Hong Kong shopping malls in the commercial capital of the mainland goes back to 1999 when Wharf (Holdings) opened a replica of its Causeway Bay Times Square mall on Huaihai Lu. That was followed three years ago by SHKP's IFC centre in Pudong.