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(Yicai Global) Oct. 31 -- China real estate titan Country Garden Holdings Ltd. [HK:2007] struck a cooperative agreement with China CITIC Bank [SHA:601998] yesterday, whereby the latter will provide it with USD4.52 billion (CNY30 billion) funding for the growth of its long-term rental apartment business.
CITIC Bank will provide customized comprehensive financial services in the next three years to meet the growth needs of its long-term rental apartments, including residential growth and construction, introducing investment and apartment operation.
Country Garden has established long-term rental apartment departments in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and other cities. The company will increase its long-haul rental flat tests and this business will become a new growth point in the firm's performance, Mo Bin, its chief executive said at its semi-annual performance conference.
Shanghai, the company's first pilot city, will debut its long-term rental apartment project by the end of this year and is expected to open 10,000 such units in town within three years, a staffer with Country Garden's Shanghai Branch said.
The long-term flat rental business is still in the early growth phase and turning a profit is thus not easy, the employee said, adding that the occupancy rate must be at least 80 percent to reduce resource waste and cut costs.