Formally Incorporates the Relocation of Hanzheng Street
Over 5,000 Hanzheng Street Occupants Already Signed up to Move to North Hankou
HONG KONG, Aug. 8 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Zall Development (Cayman) Holding Co., Ltd. ("Zall Development" or the "Company"; SEHK stock code: 2098), a leading developer and operator of large-scale, consumer product-focused wholesale shopping malls in China, announced today that its flagship Wuhan-based project, the North Hankou International Trade Center ("North Hankou"), is capturing the ample business opportunities brought about by the formal demolition and relocation of the traditional wholesale center of Hanzheng Street that kicked off this month. As of 31 July 2011, a total of over 5,000 Hanzheng Street occupants had signed contracts to move to North Hankou, occupying a total GFA of 270,000 square meters of wholesale shopping mall unit space. This relocation is expected to bring significant increment in sales revenue to the Company.
According to Savills, North Hankou is the largest wholesale market with a consumer products focus in Central China, in terms of planned GFA. Located at a transportation hub in Wuhan, North Hankou is privileged in terms of both transportation and logistics. Upon the completion of the first phase of the project in 2013, North Hankou is expected to comprise a total GFA of 2,700,000 square metersof wholesale shopping mall units. This will be divided into twelve separate wholesale shopping malls, with each serving a particular consumer product sector to bring together millions types of goods. North Hankou is not only set to incorporate the relocation of Hanzheng Street, but it is also well on track to be a multi-functional international trade center that comprises trading, exhibition, logistics, entertainment, service-related and other activities.
As of 31 July 2011, North Hankou had completed the construction and sale of its Footwear and Leather Products Mall (Phase I), Small Household Items Mall (Phase I), Hotel Products and Supplies Mall (Phase I), Cotton Knitwear Mall (Phase I), Apparel Mall (Phase I) and affiliated supporting facilities. Combined, these malls offer a total GFA of over 600,000 square meters of wholesale shopping mall units. Over 1,800 occupants have commenced their businesses at North Hankou, which among them, approximately 60% is relocated from Hanzheng Street. A total of 2,680 apparel shops and 2,100 small household items shops are going to commence business at North Hankou later this year. In addition, 5,500 occupants from Hangzheng Street have entered into agreements to move to North Hankou in near future. Among them, 2,500 are small household items wholesalers. These include the Hanzheng Street Bedside Products Chamber of Commerce, which will take up shop units totaling 20,000 square meters, and a number of gift and stationary wholesalers.
As of 31 July 2011, around 80% of our completed wholesale shopping mall units were sold and the remaining was mainly held by the Company as investment properties.
Mr. Yan Zhi, Chairman and CEO of Zall Development, said, "Leveraging the backdrop of growing domestic demand and the rise of Central China, North Hankou, as an advanced next-generation multi-functional wholesale shopping mall of sizable scale and equipped with superior logistical warehousing capabilities, provides the best location not only for the relocation of the Hanzheng Street wholesale market but also for coastal trading industries to move inland. The development of North Hankou's large-scale, consumer product-focused wholesale shopping mall was set to coincide with the government's moves to upgrade and modernize Wuhan by promoting urbanization, starting with the accommodation of occupants relocating from the Hanzheng Street wholesale market. Thus, strong governmental support has been provided to the North Hankou project, which has now been listed in the twelfth-five year plan of the Hubei provincial government work report for the third consecutive year. The government has also bolstered peripheral infrastructure construction and transportational network enhancement efforts to further boost the development of the North Hankou project."
Located in the heart of Wuhan's central district and spanning an area of 2.56 square kilometers, Hanzheng Street had been a traditional trading hub that enjoyed over 500 years of business prosperity. Housing over 20,000 tenants from various industries, Hanzheng Street's visitor flow reached 200,000-300,000 per day with transactions amounted to over RMB50 billion per year. Being the largest consumer product wholesale market in the country and enjoying the highest transaction volume, Hanzheng Street was known as "the World's first street market". However, since the traditional business model adopted by Hanzheng Street had become out of date, and since serious issues had existed there with regard to fire safety, security and traffic congestion, all of which were detrimental to the further development of the city, the Wuhan provincial government announced its plan to comprehensively reform the Hanzheng Street wholesale market in February 2011. On the back of this plan, the relocation of Hanzheng Street occupants to North Hankou has officially kicked off this month, and is targeted to be fully completed within three years.
North Hankou provides the best relocation choice for Hanzheng Street occupants. This is because it not only offers a highly strategic geographic location to wholesalers, but also excellent supporting logistics facilities, including an electronic trading platform and residential facilities, as well as local government agencies on hand to provide instant administrative and compliance services, such as customs clearance activities and taxes. The North Hankou project attracts various professional service providers to offer value-added services to its occupants. These include banks, such as the Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Bank of Communications, China Merchants Bank and Hankou Bank, telecommunications service providers, such as China Telecom and China Mobile, and a number of third-party logistics service providers.
Mr. Yan Zhi concluded by saying: "The transaction volume of North Hankou's occupants has kept rising since the launch of the project. In particular, within one year, the Hotel Products and Supplies Mall and Footwear Products Mall have already become the largest markets enjoying the highest transaction volumes in Central China for their respective industries. North Hankou, when fully operational, is expected to far exceed Hanzheng Street in terms of market share and periodic transaction volume. Leveraging our competitive edges, Zall Development is set to tap the ample opportunities brought about by rapidly growing domestic demands. We strive to fully capture the huge potential of the project, and in doing so, enhance Wuhan's position as a leading wholesale market in the country."
About Zall Development
Zall Development is a leading developer and operator of large-scale, consumer product-focused wholesale shopping malls, as well as commercial space provider, in China. Headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei province, Zall Development primarily engages in selling and leasing consumer product-focused wholesale market properties and other commercial spaces. The Company's major clients include suppliers, manufacturers, dealers and other small to medium sized local wholesale enterprises. Besides developing and operating wholesale market properties, Zall Development offers a comprehensive range of integrated logistics and trading facilities and services.
Zall Development's major projects and land bank are mainly located in Wuhan, Xiangyang and Tianjin. Its property portfolio comprises wholesale market properties and commercial properties. The Company's flagship project, the North Hankou International Trade Center ("North Hankou"), is the largest consumer products interstate-trading platform in China. According to Savills, North Hankou is the largest consumer product focused wholesale market in terms of planned GFA with land use right obtained in Central China, comprising more than ten wholesale shopping malls that respectively focus on leather footwear, small household items, hotel products and supplies, cotton knitwear, apparel, home textiles and home appliances, international brands, general products, gift and accessories, and automobiles, just to name a few.
