China has room for four times more outlet malls, says industry leader
Beijing Capital Juda says the Chinese market can accommodate another 150 outlet malls, from the current 50
China’s major outlet store developer and operator Beijing Capital Juda, which is backed by Sino-Ocean Group and KKR, said it would have opened 20 malls by 2020, as the country could accommodate another 150 outlets.
“By our calculation, there are about 50 standard outlets opened in China, compared to nearly 300 outlets in the US. We see great potential in the China’s market,” said Bryan Feng, chief executive officer of Beijing Capital Juda.
“We believe the market can accommodate 200 standard outlets,” he said.
The Hong Kong-listed firm is a spin-off of state-owned property developer Beijing Capital Land owned by Beijing Capital Group.
Feng said they could leverage not only from state-backed Sino-Ocean and KKR’s financial investments into the company, but more importantly, the overseas management experience and commercial resources for expansion that both backers have.
KKR has invested in outlets in Europe, while Sino-Ocean Group operates a number of commercial complexes and has rich industry resources such as the tenant network and land resources. Both have jointly invested HK$1.47 billion (US$191 million) into Beijing Capital Juda last year, holding a 16 per cent and 12 per cent stake in the company, respectively.