SM Prime Holdings Inc., one of the leading leading integrated property companies in Southeast Asia, held a soft opening for SM City Tianjin, its seventh shopping mall in China on Saturday.
SM Prime said in disclosure to the stock exchange SM Tianjin became the company’s biggest mall in China so far with a gross floor area of 565,000 square meters.
The mall is currently 60-percent leased out to various tenants including Dadi IFree Cinema, Bravo Yonghui Supermarket, Jiawen, FTZ Korea World, Decathlon, Acasia Food Court and Watsons. It also features a kid-friendly Exploreum, wellness tenants, a skating rink and 8,110 parking slots for the shoppers.
“The opening of SM City Tianjin reflects our strong confidence on China’s economy. This gives SM Prime a wider perspective on China’s shopping culture, allowing us to capture bigger opportunities as an international integrated property developer,” SM Prime president Jeffrey Lim said.
SM Prime said it continued to expand in China as consumer spending growth in the world’s second largest economy remained strong.
China’s consumption grew from around $650 billion in 2000 to $1.4 trillion in 2010, creating the largest consumer market in the world. China’s consumption has been growing faster than any other country’s in absolute terms.
SM City Tianjin is located within the Tianjin Airport Economic Area at the emerging Binhai New Area, the largest free trade zone in Northern China and a thriving central business district where international corporations in logistics and financial services are setting up offices.
Considered as a “new economic pole” along the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and Shanghai Pudong New Area, the Binhai New Area is home to over 2,000 enterprises from 130 countries.
SM City Tianjin is adjacent to the airport and is accessible through the cities of Beijing and Qinhuangdao via buses, expressways and high-speed railways.
SM Prime’s six other malls in China are SM City Xiamen, SM City Jinjiang, SM City Chengdu, SM City Suzhou, SM City Chongqing and SM City Zibo, all with a combined GFA of 1.5 million sqm.
Designed by ARQ, a world-renowned design agency, SM City Tianjin has three structures that are positioned to look like a large blossoming flower from above, symbolizing growth and new opportunities.