戴德梁行：今日全球楼市速览(2010.03.18)

3.  Starwood Group – is committed to doubling its presence in China to more than 100 hotels by 2012. The group - which has a stable of hotel brands including the St Regis, The Luxury Collection, W, Westin, Le Meridien, Sheraton, and Four Points - has 76 projects in development in China. This year the group will open 26 hotels in China, a group official said. (Shanghai Daily).

4. SAIC Motor – the nation's biggest auto maker, accelerated the development of own-brand vehicles by kicking off production at its new base in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. SAIC's new plant in the city's Pukou district, with an investment of RMB2.57bn, will be the production hub for its small-capacity engine and mid-class vehicles under the Roewe and MG brands. The Pukou plant will have an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles as well as 250,000 engines. According to a Nanjing-based official, SAIC plans to invest RMB10bn in facilities in the city by 2015. (Shanghai Daily).

5. Shanghai Technologies Aerospace Co – a JV between China Eastern Airlines and ST Aerospace, launched a RMB290m hangar at Pudong International Airport to boost its aircraft maintenance business. The hangar, covering 14,200 sq m, can accommodate three wide-body and two narrow-body aircraft simultaneously, including an Airbus A380 jet, the company said. (Shanghai Daily)

Hong Kong

1. New World Development is planning to launch 1,333 flats in five new projects this year and next as interim results show it has returned to the black. The homes cover a gross floor area of 1.47 million square feet. They comprise 981 flats in Che Kung Temple Station project in Sha Tin, 152 in Belcher's Hill in Western, 87 homes in phase 1 of Tong Yuen San Tsuen in Yuen Long and 113 in two projects in Mid- Levels and Tai Hung. (The Standard).

2.  Kerry Properties has reported a 44 percent leap in net profit to HK$4.39 billion, due to a significant fair value gain on investment properties. But underlying profit for last year fell 3.7 percent to HK$2.15 billion. This is mainly because profit from logistic operations fell nearly 9 percent to HK$521 million, chief financial officer Louis Wong Chi- kong said. (The Standard).

3. The government may consider scrapping an almost 40-year-old policy that restricts development in Mid-Levels after the MTR's West Island Line opens in 2014. The move could bring bigger developments that increase housing density and make the area's traffic jams worse. Removing the so-called Mid-Levels moratorium, introduced in 1972 to limit traffic flow to the hilly area - which nevertheless has become highly congested - would allow bigger blocks to be built on 28 sites coming up for redevelopment. According to a document submitted by the Transport and Housing Bureau to the Central and Western District Council for discussion today, removing the moratorium would only add 250 flats to the 32,080 projected for the area by 2021. (SCMP).