April 2010 - Keppel Corporation

28 Sustaining GrowthChina focusFacilitated by expansionarymonetary and fiscal stimuli,China continues to lead abroader Asian economicrecovery. The Keppel Group,with its growing presenceand network in China, iswell-positioned to capitaliseon business opportunitiesmushrooming in thiseconomic powerhouse.PROVIDER OF CHOICEHOMESThe Chinese property marketremains strong, underpinnedby sound fundamentals suchas rising household incomeand better-than-expectedemployment figures.The Arcadia, a villa development in Tianjin, has sold 88% of its launched residential units as at end March 2010Keppel Land is poised tomeet the aspirations ofChinese homebuyers. It hasa landbank of 7.2 million smin gross floor area spreadacross 10 cities whichtranslates to more than30,000 homes in thepipeline. For 2010, KeppelLand is planning saleslaunches for its projects inShanghai, Shenyang, Tianjin,Wuxi and Chengdu.Meanwhile, for theresidential township, TheBotanica in Chengdu, some376 launched apartmentswere sold in the firstweekend of April 2010 whilevilla development, TheArcadia in Tianjin, has sold88% of 115 launched unitsas at end March 2010.GATHERING INTERESTAgainst the backdrop ofincreasing interest inKeppel’s businesses, theGroup played host to11 journalists from Beijing,Shanghai and Guangzhoufrom 14 to 15 April 2010.The media delegation,representing business andlifestyle publications suchas Global Entrepreneur,21st Century Business Heraldand Guangzhou Daily, wasintroduced to Keppel’skey business units anddevelopments.To help them betterunderstand the Group’sbusinesses, they were briefedduring tours of Reflections atKeppel Bay’s show gallery,Marina at Keppel Bay, KeppelFELS yard and the KeppelSeghers Tuas Waste-to-Energy Plant.CONTRIBUTING TO TOPINDUSTRIAL PARKSThe Tianjin Economic-Technological DevelopmentArea (TEDA) has been namedthe top industrial park in Chinawhile the China-SingaporeSuzhou Industrial Park a closesecond out of 254 in a newset of ratings of China’sindustrial parks. The BusinessTimes reported on the 2010ratings which were publishedin the report – Manufacturing,Outsourcing and R&D in China– by research and consultingfirm China Knowledge.The parks are rated based onfive key criteria: the macroeconomicperformance of thelocal area; the level ofdevelopment of the park;local investment andoperational costs; local skilllevels and their availability andthe quality of managementand administration.According to the report,China’s industrial parksattract about one-third of thecountry’s realised foreigndirect investment annually.The China-Singapore SuzhouIndustrial Park, developedjointly in 1994 by thegovernments of Singaporeand China, has served as amodel for many of China’sindustrial parks. KeppelKeppelite I April 2010