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Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin’s Dalian Wanda to open renovated Beijing mall under ‘asset-light’ model
- Wukesong Wanda Plaza, a 300,000-square-metre mall in Beijing’s northwestern Haidian district, will open some time in June
- Fitch Ratings expects China’s retail sales to pick up next year on the back of the relaxed Covid-19 approach and policy measures to revive domestic consumption
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Elise Makin Beijing
Dalian Wanda Group, the Chinese conglomerate controlled by billionaire Wang Jianlin, plans to open a new mall in Beijing in June 2023 under its “asset-light” business model, further expanding its shopping-centre empire on the mainland.
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Wanda has taken over the 300,000-square-metre Wukesong Shopping Center in the northwestern Haidian district and renamed it as Beijing Wukesong Wanda Plaza. It is Wanda’s first mall in the area, and one of the biggest in China’s capital.
The mall will definitely open some time in June, a source from Wanda who declined to be named confirmed on Monday, as he was not authorised to speak to the media. The company did not reply to a request for additional comment.
In April, Wanda’s subsidiary Beijing Liangma Wanda Plaza Commercial Management signed an agreement with developer Blue Harbor to take over the operations of two malls in Beijing – Wukesong and Solana.
Before China’s zero-Covid pivot this month, China’s economy was repeatedly affected by frequent lockdowns, hitting a swathe of sectors, including manufacturing and retail. Retail sales fell by a sharper than expected 5.9 per cent in November from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
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