Qianhai "Water City" - a new "Boomtown" near Hong Kong's Border

[drbubb]

Qianhai "Water City" - a new "Boomtown" near Hong Kong's Border

 

"An international financial global mega-hub zone" - or is it ?

This is Shenzhen's bid to be the financial centre of the Pearl River Delta

 

 

The Vision of Qian Hai : "Water City" : Port City

VIDEO :

(well worth the 10 minutes!)

3min version:

 

Even Bigger picture

/more on Qianhai Transport: http://www.ourfuture...ndex.html?p=003

 

Quick LINK to this thread : http://tinyurl.com/GEI-Qianhai

Google News (Qianhai)-- : https://www.google.c...iw=1179&bih=574

AX version of the thread :: http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/hong-kong-property/threads/149705/qianhai-new-boomtown-nr-hk/

[drbubb]

Original plans are old news now ?

Some property prices have tripled already

============

New Hong Kong-Shenzhen Qianhai Zone Signs Deals Worth US$35 Billion

 

Posted on July 19, 2012 by China Briefing

 

 

Jul. 19 – The new financial and modern services development zone in Qianhai, a Hong Kong-Shenzhen joint venture supported by the State Council, saw 37 firms sign contracts worth a total of RMB220 billion (US$34.54 billion) with officials from Qianhai in Hong Kong on Monday, according to the Shenzhen Daily.

Of the 37 firms, 12 were Hong Kong companies, 12 were foreign-funded companies, and were 13 domestic Chinese companies. According to reports, 15 of the companies are listed within the 2012 Fortune Global 500 list.

 

The Qianhai Zone was official approved by China’s State Council on June 29 with the aim of serving as an experimental business zone for better interaction between Mainland China and Hong Kong in the financial, logistics, and IT services sectors. It covers less than 20 square kilometers on the western side of Shenzhen, and is expected to achieve a GDP of RMB150 billion by 2020.

 

To date, 23 companies have completed registration formalities in Qianhai. The zone will next speed up environmental improvements and the construction of infrastructure facilities, international schools, and hospitals in order to create a more comfortable living environment for residents, officials said.

 

“There has been a lot of speculation regarding the new zone and it will be interesting to see how the national and provincial governments will decide on the type of industry and effective incentives to be granted to companies setting up in this area, taking into consideration the whole PRD future economic development,” comments Alberto Vettoretti, managing partner of Dezan Shira & Associates. “In fact, in Guangdong Province there are other areas under remodeling to extract the ‘next wave’ of FDI, such as Hengqing Island near Zhuhai and Nansha Port near Guangzhou. So if they give certain incentives to the Qianhai Zone, then I think these would have to somehow extend to the others too. Historically, when a new policy is announced, it also tends to favor the large international players and Fortune 500 companies so the threshold will be set quite high for entrants, which would probably make the new zone not a very SME-friendly place. At the moment, [the Qianhai Zone] remains a piece of land with virtually no infrastructure.”

 

===

[drbubb]

"And so we declare... an International Financial Centre."

 

Several years ago, officials in Shenzhen drew a small box on a map of the Western part of their city and proclaimed that it would be an international financial global mega-hub zone. Hong Kong officials, in their usual pathetic desperation to give Mainland counterparts face, traipsed up there to sign meaningless agreements on cooperation and partnership. Then, more recently, Beijing essentially told the uppity Shenzhen cadres that they weren’t going to be getting any special privileges on foreign exchange or tax, so they should just forget the mega-hub zone scheme and go back to churning out fake Hello Kitty phones. And we assumed that was that.

 

But no. It’s back. We can assume that this has nothing to do with Donald’s imminent relocation to Shenzhen, but quite a lot to do with the arrival in Government House of CY Leung in just over a week. The Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone has been given some sort of ‘national strategic importance’

classification. Among the ridiculous ideas being spouted by grasping Mainland officials and Hong Kong hangers-on:

• 
  

  Individual Mainland investors to be allowed to access Hong Kong securities markets via (of course) Qianhai (the old Tianjin ‘through train’ wall-of-money thing).

  
  

• 
  

  All Hong Kong’s banks and brokerages, plus the stock exchange, to set up branches in (you guessed it) Qianhai.

  
  

• 
  

  Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing to relocate its newly acquired London Metals Exchange to (yup) Qianhai.

  
  

• 
  

  Tons of blather about Yuan-denominated offshore/onshore sounds-like-money-laundering RMB hub zone blah-blah stuff, all taking place in (obviously) Qianhai.

  
  

 

Qianhai, for the record, is a patch of concrete-covered wasteland up the road from a container port. Whether CY Leung will rush up to Beijing and beg the national leadership to exempt the area from foreign exchange controls and other tools of economic control vital to a centrally planned, one-party state is unlikely. But maybe they think it’s worth a try.

===

 

/more:

http://biglychee.com...ts-docks-again/

[drbubb]

Qianhai Port City, Shenzhen, China

 

October - 14 - 2010

 

OMA recently unveiled their masterplan for Qianhai Port City.

 

 

Situated at the threshold of Hong Kong and Mainland China, Qianhai occupies a position of strategic significance in the Pearl River Delta. The planned intensification of transport through the site renders inevitable its emergence as a new center. The question is not whether Qianhai will develop, but how? If successful, a new city center in Qianhai could fulfill Shenzhen’s coastal ambitions and establish a node for interaction between various components of the PRD.

 

 

 

The existing use of the site consists primarily of infrastructure, transportation, and logistics. The operations of the port and its related functions define the quality of much of the site and adjacent areas. What if, rather than attempting to suppress or insulate these uses from new development, they are considered as latencies capable of forming the identity of a new city? Can the introduction of new urban conditions benefit from and reinforce the existing (port) conditions of the site? The design organizes the site in a series of parallel bands running east-west.

 

===

 

/more: http://www.evolo.us/...zhen-china-oma/

[drbubb]

SHKP used Proximity to Qianhai in their marketing of the Gateway Property in Tuen Mun

 

"Offering 20-minute access to Qianhai"'

 

Century Gateway .. At the heart of Pearl River Delta with full transport connections

 

(17 April 2012, Hong Kong), Century Gateway will be in the heart of the Pearl River Delta at the Tuen Mun West Rail station in a transport convergence of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen superhighway, Hong Kong-Shenzhen western corridor, MTR West Rail, Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok link and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge offering easy connections to China, Hong Kong and beyond. Project developer Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) announced details of the prime location and full transport network today (17 April).

 

 

 

 

SHKP Executive Director Victor Lui said:

"Century Gateway will be in the centre* of the Pearl River Delta with access to comprehensive rail and road infrastructure developed by the three local governments of the Delta that will greatly reduce travel time and give the project an unparalleled position. The prime location should make Century Gateway very attractive to professionals who have to travel to China or overseas frequently, and the keen anticipation seen so far promises that the project will be much in demand when it goes on sale."

 

Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency Assistant General Manager Allen Woo said: "Century Gateway will have access to the western corridor, Guangzhou-Shenzhen superhighway and Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge, shortening the travel time to Shenzhen International Airport to only half an hour and offering 20-minute access to Qianhai. It will be near the business cores of Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and close proximity to the Tuen Mun-Chek Lap Kok link that offers a 14-minute trip to Hong Kong International Airport. The project will be the gateway to the Pearl River Delta and beyond, offering residents convenient transport to unlimited opportunities."

. . .

About Century Gateway

Century Gateway will be at the Tuen Mun West Rail station and the first residential project on the West Rail, offering convenient transport to major financial centres in Hong Kong and mainland. The first phase of the project will have 1,075 quality units, mainly with two or three bedrooms. The vendor of Century Gateway will be Tuen Mun Property Development and the developer Wetland Park Management Service, an affiliate of Sun Hung Kai Properties.

===

 

*Many other projects also claim to be "The Centre" of the Pearl River Delta, including Qianhai

 

Tung Chung could benefit too : Train Links

[drbubb]

Meet China’s newest Special Economic Zone: Qianhai

 

by Kanika Saigal / July 25, 2012

 

A pilot project in Qianhai, near Shenzhen in southern China, aims to boost cross-border trade and direct investment opportunities between the region and Hong Kong. But Beijing is yet to introduce a clear framework for the project. In keeping with China's propensity to use specially designated economic zones as a testing ground for the liberalization of its economy, there are plans to modernize the Qianhai, Shenzhen region by boosting its trade with Hong Kong, among other measures, in announcement made at the end of last month. The project, known as the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, will cost around $45 billion to develop, and is due for completion by 2020. It will focus on developing financial, logistics and computer services on the mainland.

 

Analysts reckon it represents a major step in the development of free convertibility of the renminbi in China. Among the economic policies set, the zone will be allowed support the granting of RMB loans for offshore projects by banking institutions established in Qianhai. In addition, it has been empowered to support select enterprises and financial institutions registered in Qianhai that wish to issue renminbi-denominated bonds in Hong Kong; and it will also allow new methods of foreign exchange settlement of capital funds, investment and fund management. The Qianhai pilot scheme is reminiscent of the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZ) during Deng Xiaoping’s Southern Tour in the 1980s, which introduced free market practices.

 

As with the development of Shenzhen in the 1980, Michael Vrontamitis, head of product management, east, and transaction banking for Standard Chartered in Hong Kong, says that lessons learnt from Qianhai have the potential to be rolled out nationally: “Developments in Qianhai came from the centre. This implies it is a China initiative, not just a Shenzhen initiative. The way to think about it is as a ‘toe in the water’ [for Beijing],” he says.

 

 

Chi Lo, CEO of HFT Investment Management in Hong Kong, agrees: “It is a usual practice of China to start small experiment for any new reform initiative and if the experiment proves to be successful, the scheme will be rolled out on a national scale.” Nevertheless, there are very few in-depth details of how Qianhai will be allowed to run, explains Justin Chan, deputy head of global markets, Asia pacific and head of Hong Kong trading at HSBC: “Economic policy for Qianhai is no more than a framework. The government is yet to stipulate what type of offshore activities that companies will be able to operate in Qianhai, if companies will be allowed to borrow offshore, or if they will be allowed to use the money the raise outside of Qianhai. There are still a lot of issues to be ironed out.” He adds:

 

“Qianhai is at its nascent stage of development. For it to become a financial centre and central to the internationalisation of the RMB, infrastructure is essential. But I do think that international banks are willing to set up shop in Qianhai because of the economic potential there.”

 

/more: http://www.euromoney...ne-Qianhai.html

[drbubb]

( Appeal to LME / HKex )

 

Qianhai’s growth to benefit HK

 

By Sophie He / June 22, 2012

 

Hong Kong and Shenzhen will find huge room for cooperation in developing the Qianhai special financial district and both sides will benefit significantly from the collaboration, government officials and experts told a Qianhai development forum.

 

Qianhai, the 15-square-kilometer development zone in Shenzhen, has been chosen to be the testing ground of a series of financial innovations, and being the “next door neighbor” to Hong Kong is considered to be a huge advantage for the district. “Hong Kong is an international financial center, engaged in the modern service industry, and Qianhai cannot be separated from Hong Kong”, Zheng Hongjie, chief of Qianhai administration bureau, told delegates attending the forum held in Shenzhen on Wednesday.

 

Zheng said that Qianhai will have a lot to learn from Hong Kong, and he pointed out that “when I can not come up with new ideas, I go to Hong Kong”.

. . .

Stephen Cheung Yan-leung, Dean of the School of Business of the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), suggested that companies in Qianhai should innovate by issuing yuan- denominated bonds, and allowing Hong Kong’s retail and institutional investors to subscribe to them as the yuan funds in Hong Kong can be invested in the mainland bond market. “This would be a big step forward in the development of Hong Kong’s offshore yuan center,” Cheung said.

 

Raymond So Wai-man, Dean of School of Business of Hang Seng Management College, recommended that Beijing should allow Hong Kong’s financial institutions to establish joint ventures with other firms in Qianhai to develop new financial services. “This would be a new way for Hong Kong financial institutions to enter into the mainland (market),” he said.

. . .

Chan Yanchong, Associate Professor at Department of Management Sciences of the City University of Hong Kong ... suggested the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which operates the Hong Kong bourse, to open a subsidiary in Qianhai. “Actually, every brokerage and bank in Hong Kong should have subsidiaries in Qianhai”, so that mainland investors could have access to invest in Hong Kong’s stock market in Qianhai, Chan said.

 

In this way, Chan stressed that the money that is used to invest in Hong Kong securities technically stays onshore all the time, making it safer and easier to control.

He also suggested that HKEx should consider moving its newly acquired LME to Qianhai, making the district the world’s largest commodity trading center. “China’s consumption of commodities is huge now, and the transaction volume of commodity will be huge too in the future,” Chan said.

===

/more: http://www.chinadail...owth-benefit-hk

[drbubb]

HKex's Chairman speaks about Qianhai's opportunity (& low tax rate)

 

C. K. CHOW: HK’s Market Gears For The Future

 

2012-10-09

 

Our plan going forward is simple: to be a vertically and horizontally integrated exchange with comprehensive product depth. We already excel in our equities market, derivatives, and we continue to build our index market. In fact, we recently launched a joint-venture company with the Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges to develop cross-border equity indexes.

In terms of vertical integration, we offer exchange-traded products, clearing, and will soon launch OTC clearing post-trade services. Finally, in terms of horizontal integration, we will expand into fixed income, currency, and commodities.

 

The results of our integrated exchange model means Hong Kong is no longer just a place for companies to raise funds — we are a comprehensive financial services centre.

A big part of our future story will also involve the Renminbi. RMB deposits in Hong Kong stood at RMB563.2 billion at the end of July this year, which creates enormous opportunities for companies wishing to issue shares or other products denominated in the Chinese currency.

. . .

The development of the Qianhai Industrial Zone in Shenzhen is also something we’re keeping a close eye on. The State Council has approved the area as a key economic zone in Shenzhen, and the plans for Qianhai are ambitious. The goal is to turn the area into a financial services hub with close links to Hong Kong.

 

The preliminary plan calls for a 15% profit tax and no income taxes on financial professionals, lawyers, accountants, and other professionals. It will be easier for Hong Kong banks to set-up their businesses in Qianhai, and much easier for RMB to flow across the border between Qianhai and Hong Kong. I believe one of the priories of Qianhai will be to establish a legal and regulatory framework which can support its development into a financial services hub linking to Hong Kong.

 

Qianhai provides an excellent opportunity for the mainland and Hong Kong to continue cooperating, and allows the Mainland to build stronger links to Hong Kong and internationally to the benefit of people on both sides of the boundary.

===

/more: http://www.chinadail...nt_15070975.htm

[drbubb]

Progress in 2012

 

Qianhai Devt Zone approved

The State Council in July approved development and opening-up policies for the QianhaiShenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, paving the way for closer cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

 

 

The policies, approved by the State Council, will cover six sectors -finance, taxation, legal system, talents, education and medicaltreatment, and telecommunications. The zone, a stretch of 15-square kilometer reclaimed land in Qianhai Bay, is in western Shenzhen andnear Hong Kong and Macao.

The central government aims to build Qianhai into a "pioneering zone" to forge closer cooperation between Hong Kong and the mainland. Under the plan, Qianhai will become a testland for its financial industry open-up, including preparations for cross-border loan issuanceexperiment and establishment of a trial zone to run cross-border yuan businesses.

 

(HK Edition 12/28/2012 page2):

http://www.chinadail...nt_16063317.htm

[drbubb]

Bonded warehouse for gold and silver in Qianhai

 

The Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society (CGSE) foresees a bright future for silver in Hong Kong and is making moves to play a bigger role in that future. Last week, the CGSE hosted its first Annual CGSE International (Silver) Conference, at which President Haywood Cheung spoke about the Loco Hong Kong Silver Contract, a new trading platform that the society plans to launch in the first quarter of 2013.

. . .

 

The CGSE plans to set up a subsidiary to act as a clearing house, China Daily also revealed. The silver will be vaulted at Hong Kong International Airport and physical delivery will be subject to a 30-kilogram minimum.

Within the first six months following the launch, the CGSE projects that 2 to 3 million ounces of silver per day will be traded on the platform.

 

Furthermore, Cheung recently told Reuters that the CGSE is in talks with Chinese officials to set up a bonded warehouse for gold and silver in Qianhai, a new financial zone in Southern China.

Up to 25 percent of the CGSE’s trade came from the mainland in 2011, and this figure is expected to rise to between 25 percent and 30 percent this year, Cheung said.

===

/more: http://silverinvesti...s-exchange.html

[drbubb]

Analysis: China's yuan experiment faces risks, legacy

 

/ Qianhai - dubbed a $45 billion "mini Hong Kong" - will be a pioneer /

 

(Reuters) - China's plan to test yuan convertibility in a new services hub being built near Hong Kong fanned excitement Beijing may be dismantling its rigid capital controls sooner than expected. A reality check paints a different picture and suggests that China's latest test bed carries risks that will make the country's policymakers move slowly. The experimental zone of Qianhai - dubbed a $45 billion "mini Hong Kong" - will be a pioneer of the gradual opening up of China's capital account. While China controls capital moving in and out of the country, it will allow freer movements of the currency in and out of Qianhai in the southern city of Shenzhen. That was the plan announced by officials at the weekend with much fanfare in a series of policy incentives to mark the 15th anniversary ...

===

 

/more: http://www.forex-tri...ic.php?id=38503

 

DETAILS ARE SKETCHY

 

Details on how the zone will operate are sketchy. Chinese officials have said firms located in Qianhai can experiment with cross-border yuan transactions. They will be allowed to borrow or issue yuan bonds in Hong Kong, opening up a market now only available to some state-owned banks and companies.

 

It is not clear either how Qianhai will proceed with capital-account convertibility - whether firms in the zone will be allowed to convert yuan freely into foreign currencies and vice versa.

 

China's yuan is convertible under the current account, the broadest measures of trade in services and goods. But it maintains tight restrictions on the capital account, particular on debt and portfolio investment, worried that freeing up the yuan too quickly could leave the economy vulnerable to rapid movements in capital in and out of the country.

 

This year Beijing agreed to allow all trade to be settled in yuan, following a series of regional experiments. It has set up a number of currency swap agreements with countries to support settlement in yuan.

 

It has also taken steps to relax its tight grip on currency trading, gradually widening the permitted daily trading range for the yuan. In April, Beijing doubled the band to 1 percent either side of a mid point.

. . .

Allowing Qianhai to tap Hong Kong would help channel some of the growing yuan pool back to the mainland. Yuan deposits in Hong Kong have grown to more than 550 billion yuan ($86 billion) in May 2012 from just 64 billion in January 2010.

 

"There could be some convenience (on convertibility). But there is no plan to conduct a trial on full yuan convertibility, the government has no such consideration," said He Fan, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences - a top government think-tank - who helped to draft the Qianhai plan.

 

"It's a gift sent by the central government to Hong Kong, which hopes to use Qianhai as a spring board to enter the domestic market. But it will be a step by step approach."

[drbubb]

• Qianhai loans welcome but not big business
  \South China Morning Post-Dec 28, 2012
  
• While Hong Kong banks welcomed Beijing's initiative to let them make yuan-denominated loans to companies operating in Qianhai, analysts warned the amount of new business would be small, at least at first, and not lucrative.
  
• Hong Kong Association of Banks chairwoman Anita Fung Yuen-mei said that allowing Hong Kong banks to lend yuan funds to borrowers in Qianhai, a small district west of Shenzhen that aspires to be a financial hub, would increase the volume of cross-border transfers of yuan funds.
  That, in turn, would help speed up the internationalisation of the yuan and strengthen Hong Kong's role as an offshore yuan trading centre, she added.
  . . .
  Some 37 firms, including international banks, have signed non-binding agreements to pour investments in Qianhai worth more than 300 billion yuan (HK$368 billion).
  
• 
  
  
• Yuan loans from HK could hit 50b
  Chinadaily USA-Jan 3, 2013
  Qianhai is a financial pilot zone near Hong Kong. On Dec 27 China formally allowed companies in the area to borrow yuan from Hong Kong ...
  
• First cross-border RMB loan finalized
  Morning Whistle-Dec 31, 2012
  The loan with multi-billion yuan amount will be co-completed by Hang Seng Bank of Hong Kong and Qianhai Development Investment Holding ...
  

[drbubb]

Fund manager bets on Qianhai

 

Global Times | 2012-10-18 ... By Cong Mu

 

Wang Yawei, a former star fund manager with one of the largest mutual funds in the country, China Asset Management Co (China AMC), has registered a private equity firm in Qianhai, a financial reform test zone in Shenzhen, a local official told the Global Times Thursday.

 

A registration record filed with Shenzhen's Market Supervision Administration showed that Wang registered a company called Shenzhen Qianhe Capital Management Co in the Qianhai test zone on September 26.

. . .

"Qianhai should be considered as an extension of Hong Kong's financial territory," said Luo Yuding, a finance professor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

 

Luo said that, owing to financial stability concerns, the government will probably only implement a partial capital account opening-up in Qianhai.

===

/more: http://www.globaltim...nt/739266.shtml

[drbubb]

Qianhai's back in the news...

 

Brokers to help develop the "Manhattan of the Pearl River Delta"

 

HK association to advise on how to attract overseas to invest in Qianhai.

(a 15 sq. km special zone west of Manhattan.)

 

+ HK Securities Professionals Association will submit a report to Qianhai next month to help them attract new investment. ("Q. wants to open up, but they do not know how to attract overseas firms," says Chris Cheung Wah-fung, a legislator for the financial sector.)

 

+ Qianhai has a target GDP of Rmb 150 billion by 2020,

 

+ 37 Banks and financial firms, led by HSBC, plan to invest 300 bn. in Q. Some progress has been made already as HK banks are now allowed to lend there in Rmb. HSBC may be the first bank to make such loans, says Anita Fung Yung-mei, HSBC's CEO.

 

+ HK brokers want to sell shares from some HK ipo's into China thru offices in Q.

 

+ A handful of firms ( China Merchants Group, China Int'l Marine Containers, and Shenzhen Int'l) own 27.5% of Q's land area.

=== ===

 

A investable theme ?

Yesterday's action suggests "maybe it is":

 

+ China Merchants Group : up 8.81%

+ China Int'l Marine Containers : up 18.25%

+ Shenzhen Int'l : up 21.11%

 

Versus: a 0.29% gain in HSI

 

/see: http://hongkong.asia...boomtown-nr-hk/

[drbubb]

Banks get green light for 2b yuan in cross-border loans for Qianhai

 

 

Fifteen banks in Hong Kong were granted permission yesterday to offer a combined 2 billion yuan (HK$2.49 billion) in loans to companies in Qianhai to help develop the area into the "Manhattan of the Pearl River Delta".

This is the first time the city's lenders are being allowed to offer cross-border loans in yuan.

 

It is seen as a relaxation of the mainland's tight capital controls and presents a business opportunity to Hong Kong lenders.

In June, the National Development and Reform Commission identified Qianhai - a 15 square kilometre special zone west of Shenzhen - as a testing ground for the introduction of freer convertibility of the yuan.

 

Hong Kong banks can offer a wider variety of loans to mainland firms.

And while mainland banks must adhere to official lending rates, the Qianhai scheme allows loan rates to be negotiated between Hong Kong lenders and Qianhai borrowers. Analysts said this flexibility could also be seen as an experiment with the mainland's rate reforms.

 

The loan plan is the first major milestone to become a reality in the Qianhai development plan. Previous measures failed to gain Beijing's approval.

Since 2010, the Shenzhen government has aspired to turn Qianhai into the "Manhattan of the Pearl River Delta", with a target for the zone's gross domestic product of 150 billion yuan by 2020.

===

/more: http://www.scmp.com/...-starts-2b-yuan

[drbubb]

Banks get green light for 2b yuan in cross-border loans for Qianhai

... the Shenzhen government has aspired to turn Qianhai into the "Manhattan of the Pearl River Delta", with a target for the zone's gross domestic product of 150 billion yuan by 2020.

 

Er, ah...

I thought HK was the "Manhattan of the PRD"?

So doesn't this mean that Hong Kong is financing the build-up of its own competition?

 

The premiss being, that it is easier to make Rmb loans there. So I suppose this is a way for HK banks to build a Rmb bridgehead into China, with products like: Rmb-priced futures, to be offered to Chinese co's from the banks own controlled Rmb futures entities

===

 

 

THAT was the original plan, but it had been STALLED:

 

Yesterday, the district moved one step closer to its aspiration of becoming a "mini-Hong Kong" when 15 lenders in Hong Kong were given approval to provide about 2 billion yuan (HK$2.49 billion) of cross-border loans to companies in Qianhai.

Apart from building Qianhai into a new financial hub, Beijing sees it as a testing ground for possible reforms in the mainland's legal and accounting systems.

But the central government has stalled or rejected several experimental proposals, such as establishing new banks focusing on online banking, a commodities futures exchange, a reinsurance transaction centre and a pilot debt-for-equity scheme.

The Shenzhen government also rejected nearly all political reforms proposed for the area.

There were also other setbacks. A 50km, 20-minute rail link first suggested in 2008 to provide quick access between Qianhai and the airports in Hong Kong and Shenzhen was stalled indefinitely by fears of low utilisation.

===

/see: http://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1138279/qianhai-small-zone-big-role

[drbubb]

Soaring home prices near Qianhai may be creating a false boom

 

New flats now cost a minimum of 30,000 yuan (HK$37,953) per square meter in communities near Qianhai, the daily said.

Going by Soufun data, it would mean prices are 8.9percent above those quoted in Shenzhen last month. Soufun is the largest real-estate information website in the mainland.

 

It is thought that out of the 650,000 to 750,000 people who would find work in Qianhai, only 150,000 to 220,000 could be accommodated in the zone.

 

In other words, more than two thirds of the staff will have to find homes in adjacent districts in Shenzhen. And this has sparked speculation.

 

"It is too early to be bullish on properties in or near Qianhai as the special region is still a concept on paper," warned independent property analyst Yi Xiangwu.

 

Meanwhile, Shenzhen-based Excellence Real Estate Group won the first two Qianhai sites with tenders of 5.19 billion yuan for T201-0077 and 7.18 billion yuan for T201-0075. This was a premium of 142percent and 152percent, respectively, above base prices.

The latter site has now become the most expensive in Shenzhen.

 

Construction costs for the two plots are estimated at around 40,000 yuan per sq m.

 

===

/more: http://www.thestanda...&sear_year=2013

[drbubb]

Boom may leave Qianhai landlords in cold / HK-144, HK-2039, HK-152

 

July 02, 2013

 

Major landlords in Qianhai special economic zone are unlikely to be major beneficiaries of rapid development in the area.

According to planning documents out last week, major Qianhai landlords - China Merchants (0144), China International Marine Containers (2039) and Shenzhen International (0152) - do not have any privilege to develop their sites.

 

Many of the sites, now designated for industrial use, can be converted to residential and commercial use. But then, they have to be awarded to the highest bidder. The landlord will share the land premium with the state and get the land's original value.

 

Merchants holds 3.12 million square meters and CIMC owns 524,200 square meters while Shenzhen International has 380,000 square meters of land in Qianhai. CATHAY WU

 

===

/more: http://www.thestanda...r=20130702&fc=2

[drbubb]

POSTED BY OFFTHEPEAK (14 MTHS AGO)

Hardly started, and Qianhai is llosing biz to Shanghai's new Free Trade Zone:

== ==

Article in SCMP:

Qianhai bypassed, as firms head for Shanghai

==
"already stealing business from Qianhai"

+ Qianhai is smaller: 15 sq.km, while Shanghai's FT Zone is : 29 sq km
+ Sinopec and China Taiping Life Insurance, are rethinking plans
+ Shanghai Zone's impact felt thru China, Q. only in HK

Many details on how the Shanghai Zone will operate are still unclear

Shang.FT Zone : http://hongkong.asiaxpat.com/forums/hong-kong-property/threads/152413/shanghais-free-trade-zone-the-impact/

#8 POSTED BY OFFTHEPEAK (13 MTHS AGO)

TWO SITES in Qianhai fetched altogether 4.06 billion yuan (HK$5.17 billion), making a new record for land prices in Shenzhen.

Price hit: 25,469 yuan per sqm
- The Standard today

#9 POSTED BY OFFTHEPEAK (3 HRS AGO)

 

Struggling?

Now that properties are being completed,
The owners are using various gimmicks in trying to fill them

Like Rent-free periods of One year, and half-rent for year two,
for certain "fashionable" entrepreneurs

[drbubb]

"While I agree it was a strange project and the reasons why anyone would want to locate a financial business there elude me, the idea of lengthy rent free or discounted rental periods is not new. Some of the deals done on IFC2 and ICC in Hong Kong when they were first launched were considered acts of desperation at the time but those buildings are now flourishing."

- Trainee Investor

==

 

(1)

Yeah, I suppose it is not unique to Qianhai.
And it is common for many new areas in China.
If HK must do it too, then why should a "new area" fill up instantly.

Anyway, for those who are interested, here's more of the story

> http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?sid=43500886&art_id=152120&con_type=1&pp_cat=11

Qianhai drummed up for young dreamers

Ling Wang
Monday, December 08, 2014

Young Hongkongers eager to start their own business or take the next step up in their career may want to consider Qianhai in Shenzhen, Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying suggested.
He said "quite a few local youngsters" who have started their businesses in Qianhai enjoy favorable living and site-of-operation conditions.
Leung encouraged young people "not to just stay in Hong Kong."

He made the remarks yesterday when he visited the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone and other sites in the region.

Meanwhile, Qianhai and Hong Kong launched a roaming fees-free SIM card for cross-border communications.

Chief Secretary for Administration Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said the card will make communication between the two places more convenient.

Separately, Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah said the government should encourage more young people to start their own business.

"Forbes picked Hong Kong to be the city with most concerns as a technology startup hub last March," Tsang wrote online.
"There were very few who agreed with this view though."
Tsang said the city's atmosphere for tech startups has seen great development in the past two to three years.

"Hong Kong's business climate, including business professionals providing consulting services and helping build commercial networks, has attracted many local and foreign youngsters to start their businesses," Tsang said.

He said the government apart from providing capital to young people should also "equip them with techniques."

 

(2)

Qianhai could provide a partial answer to CYL:'s headaches

If he can offload 10,000 - 20,000 young people to "cheaper" housing in Qianhai,
it may help ease HK's shortage of land problem.

Property prices are falling in Macau too, but I do not see how that can fit in

[drbubb]

Young Hongkongers head north for job opportunities

 

> http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1658061/young-hongkongers-head-north-job-opportunities

 

Graduates from Hong Kong are heading north for brighter prospects, even if that means sacrificing Facebook and Twitter

by Enoch Yiu, SCMP

 

Can't find a dream job in Hong Kong? Shenzhen's Qianhai economic zone may be the solution, but you'd better be prepared to live without Facebook or Twitter.

 

On a visit to Qianhai last week to find out what is happening there, White Collar saw some new buildings and many construction sites. But what really caught the eye were the young Hongkongers working there - something that may mark the start of a new trend of white collar workers heading north.

 

Herman Leung Ka-hin and Freya Wang Tian-jiao, both from Hong Kong, are now working for Shenzhen Qianhai Financial Holdings, the financial arm of the Qianhai authority, which invests in financial companies and other projects.

 

Leung graduated from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology this year and made the decision to work on the mainland during his final year of study.

 

"I believe in the prospects of mainland China economic growth," he said. "It would be better for me to start my career on the mainland right from the beginning so as to allow me to establish a network and knowledge."

 

He has been working in Qianhai since August.

 

Unlike the situation in Hong Kong, which provides the opportunity of clear career paths with well-established firms or the government, Leung said his boss told him to expect uncertainty over his role over the next few years because the zone had new policies and new developments all the time.

 

Leung said that would give him more chances to try something new.

 

His colleague Wang, who worked for accounting firm PwC in Hong Kong for three years doing research about Qianhai, found the zone had many opportunities. "Before I came here, I worried about working with mainland colleagues as there might be cultural differences," she said.

 

"But after I came here, I found that I had been worrying too much and I get on well with them."

 

Leung and Wang said pay levels in Qianhai were similar to Hong Kong's but the cost of living was much lower. They could also take advantage of the lower tax rate in Qianhai, 15 per cent compared with rates as high as 45 per cent in other mainland cities.

 

One thing they would like to see improve is the traffic. They live in company flats in northern Shenzhen and have to spend more than an hour travelling to or from Qianhai due to traffic jams. Staff flats in the Qianhai area have yet to be put into use.

 

Finding lunch and entertainment close to work are also problems as the only food options are the staff canteen and a Pacific Coffee outlet while planned cultural and entertainment facilities are still being built.

 

Hongkongers working in Qianhai also miss out on some popular social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter, which are banned on the mainland along with some overseas websites.

 

Qianhai is expected to have a working population of 30,000 next year after many Hong Kong banks and companies move in. Its first two major business complexes opened on Sunday.

 

The target is to expand to 650,000 workers by 2020. That should provide a lot of opportunities for Hong Kong graduates and white collar workers willing to accept a more restricted online life.