2020.03.30

Zhu Wei, deputy secretary of the Foshan Municipal CPC Committee and mayor of Foshan, accompanied by Yan Haobo, member of the Standing Committee of the Foshan Municipal CPC Committee and secretary of the CPC Committee of Nanhai District; Zhao Hai, deputy mayor of Foshan; Yang Xiaojing, vice chairman of the Foshan Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and director of the Municipal Natural Resources Bureau; Gu Yaohui, deputy secretary of the CPC Committee of Nanhai District and mayor of the district, along with leaders from the Guicheng Subdistrict Office, visited Times China Automobile Town at 10:00 a.m. of March 29, where they conducted a survey of the urban-renewal model and assessed the status of project planning, construction and operations. The delegation was welcomed by Zhou Siyang, vice president of Times China Holdings Limited, Wang Yuanyuan, general manager of Times Commercial, and Shang Tianlong, general manager of the Investment Development Department of Foshan Branch.

The first national benchmarking project of hybrid development facilitates industry upgrade in Nanhai District

Cen Zhuoxiong, deputy secretary of the Party Working Committee of Guicheng Subdistrict and director of the Subdistrict Office, introduced the urban-renewal model and renovation history of Times Automobile Town. He described it as the first national project to feature a bound transfer and leasing model, a bound state-owned collective project, and a bound housing and commercial real-estate development. Thanks to the batch transformation advanced by a hybrid development model featuring mixed attributes, functions and spaces, Times Automobile Town has become a benchmark project of urban renewal and industrial transformation/upgrade in Nanhai District. Thus, the construction of Times China Automobile Town has commenced. The floor area of the phase I project was 625 mu (approximately 0.42 square kilometers). With a total floor area of 750,000 square meters, the project received a total investment of RMB 10 billion.

Zhou Siyang, vice president of Times China Holdings Limited, introduced the development status of Times China to government leaders, and meanwhile expressed the Company's aspiration to carry out the project. Wang Yuanyuan, general manager of Times Commercial, introduced the future development planning of Times Automobile Town. The project would employ an innovative commercial model to create a progressive industrial environment and public urban space, assist Nanhai District with industrial upgrading and urban renewal, and build a destination for one-stop automobile purchase and auto culture experience that can serve the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

With multiple advantages, Times Automobile Town has strong momentum for future development

Times China Holdings Limited Vice President Zhou Siyang, expressed his confidence that Times Automobile Town would become a landmark for the automobile industry in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as well as a signature project of Foshan. He offered several highlights: First, being situated within the portal to Guangzhou and Foshan, the project enjoys a favorable advantage with respect to location. Second, the project involves a significant business volume and therefore has intensive scale-based advantages. With more than 1,000 mu (approximately 0.67 square kilometer) of land for collaborative development and 1,000,000 square meters of floor area for the automobile industry in the first and second phases, the project would display impressive scale effect. Third, thanks to advantageous resources of the automobile industry, the project has a solid industrial foundation. Fourth, an excellent political and business environment, as well as the cooperation between the government and enterprise played an important role in the assurance of smooth project implementation. Fifth, the operating model is bold and innovative.

Zhu Wei, deputy secretary of the Foshan Municipal CPC Committee and mayor of Foshan, lauded Times Automobile Town as a successful example of the industrial town model. He added that the municipal government and the government of Nanhai District would offer continuous support for the construction of Times Automobile Town and thereby approve the proposal for the construction of rail-transit stations to serve the project. He expressed confidence in the ultimate fruition of the development.

A new urban present: the signature project for Foshan

The project, as part of a plan for the overall function of Times Automobile Town, consists of two major modules: a center for automobile trade and exposition, and a center for automobile sports and culture. As a core segment of the automobile trade and exposition center, a new, vertical mall for new or used automobile trades will be built in phase I, which brings together automobile exhibition and sales, after-sales maintenance, automotive culture and catering services, building diversified scenarios of automotive culture and consumption. The automobile sports and culture center, to rise in phase II, will support industries related to luxury-oriented car brands and themed culture while enriching the experience of automotive culture. Thus, Times China will compound the upgrading of the industrial structure for automobile consumption as it bolsters the image of Foshan, doing so on the basis of collaborative development during the first and second phases.

Significantly, there will be a 1.5-kilometer extended space of the main road within the limits of the town. After transformation, it will dramatically enhance the area's appearance and thus create an image of the new automobile industry as a multifaceted sector. The 1.8-kilometer waterfront space, once renovated, will reveal a picturesque riverscape of Guicheng, endowing the project with boundless expectation and imagination.