SM plans two new malls in Fujian

Despite economic slowdown in China, shopping mall giant SM Supermalls is betting on resilient spending in Fujian province to persist as the company eyes two new branches in the world’s second-largest economy.

SM Supermalls president Steven Tan told reporters last week that they would develop one mall in Xiamen City and another in Fuzhou, the province’s capital.

“We feel that there’s an opportunity there, and our head office is in Xiamen … Right now, our focus is really more on the Fujian province,” Tan said during a media event.

He added that they planned to open the new Xiamen mall by 2027. They have yet to reveal more details for the Fuzhou mall.

The SM Group currently has two malls in Xiamen alone, with the main SM Xiamen, which was opened in December 2001, already expanded to four buildings.

Once the mall’s fourth building is completed next year, Tan said the total land area would be bigger than that of Mall of Asia, the group’s largest mall that has a gross floor area of around 500,000 square meters in Pasay City.

“The original Xiamen mall … is doing extremely well. Takeup is also very good,” he said.

Tan added that they were in talks with the InterContinental Hotel Group to develop a hotel at the existing Xiamen mall. This will also be opened by the end of next year.

InterCon’s portfolio includes global brands like Holiday Inn and Crowne Plaza, although SM Supermalls has yet to finalize which will be built within the Xiamen complex.

“It’s a boutique hotel, not large-scale … Maybe [around] a hundred rooms,” Tan said.

The SM Group currently has eight malls in China covering a total of 1.6 million square meters.

Apart from Xiamen, its other malls in China are located in Chengdu, Chongqing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Zibo, Jinjiang and Yangzhou, which opened last year.

Locally, SM Supermalls aims to launch three malls in 2025—one each in La Union, Zamboanga City, and Laoag City. —MEG J. ADONIS INQ