Breaking the shopping mould in China

Very few people understand shopping malls like Lim Beng Chee, the chief executive of Capital Malls Asia (CMA).

Overseeing an international portfolio across five countries that attracts two to three million shoppers daily, Lim is firmly against cookie-cutter malls. CMA runs 19 properties in Singapore, like Clarke Quay, mostly along the city-state's subway lines.

The group likes to break its traditional mould when foraying into the mainland market, for example by recreating streetscapes inside its centres, and is even constructing a mall in Chengdu with a rooftop garden and tennis court.

CMA now operates 51 malls in 36 cities on the mainland, and another 10 are on the way. It's also been a pioneer of sort, helping prominent international brands such as Gap open their first stores on the mainland.

Lim shares with the Post his strategy for striking the right balance of stores in CMA's properties throughout the globe and tells us why supermarkets are key to good malls in China and why cinemas are the way to capture an Indian shopper's heart.