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Builder of $136 bil Malaysia City looks beyond spooked Chinese buyers

Bloomberg Published on Mon, Aug 07, 2017 / 1:27 PM GMT+8

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(Aug 7): Country Garden Holdings Co. said it’s looking to attract customers from countries such as Thailand and Vietnam as some Chinese buyers hit by capital controls have pulled back from the US$100 billion ($136 billion) Forest City project in southern Malaysia.

China’s escalating crackdown on capital outflows this year has spooked buyers seeking to invest in property abroad, with some reconsidering past purchases and others holding off on new purchases. Developers that expanded into Malaysia’s Johor area to tap rising demand from Asia’s biggest economy are now trying to attract more non-Chinese buyers. Country Garden said it expects to open galleries targeting customers in the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Taiwan and Dubai between August and October, and plans to invest an additional $5 billion ringgit ($1.63 billion) this year in Forest City.

“This year, in the first half, we did see a slowdown. I would be lying if I said there was no impact from everything but that’s really why we’ve diversified our customer base,” Yu Runze, chief strategy officer of Country Garden Pacificview Sdn said in an interview. “Currently, there is no plan to slow down or stop the project,” said Yu.