Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHKP) today held a groundbreaking ceremony for the International Commerce Centre at the Guangzhou South Railway Station (Guangzhou South Station ICC). The event was attended by the Director of the Guangzhou Municipal Commerce Bureau, senior officials of the Panyu District Government and SHKP Executive Director Adam Kwok.

After the event, Adam Kwok and other members of the SHKP team visited the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government for an in-depth exchange of ideas. The municipal government strongly acknowledged SHKP’s extensive experience, especially in the development of iconic projects in Guangzhou and Shanghai, and attached great importance to, and affirmed its support for the development of Guangzhou South Station ICC.

New Landmark, New Hub, New Engine

In his speech, Adam Kwok expressed gratitude to the government for its strong support and shared his vision for the project: “SHKP aims to turn Guangzhou South Station ICC into a new landmark, strengthening Hong Kong’s links with Guangzhou. It will become a new hub under ‘the one-hour living circle’ in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), a new engine for ‘great domestic circulation’, and help Guangzhou become an international consumption centre city.”

Guangzhou South Station ICC sits at one end of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link. At the other end is the landmark International Commerce Centre and the integrated commercial projects to be developed atop the High Speed Rail West Kowloon Terminus With decades of experience in Hong Kong and the mainland, SHKP has confidence in making full use of the advantages of High Speed Rail connectivity and the synergy between the projects to create a new landmark, reinforcing the linkage and collaboration of the two cities.

The GBA’s Intercity Rail Plan will foster the formation of a ‘one-hour living circle’, with the Guangzhou South Railway Station serving as a vital rail transit hub, bringing together up to 12 rail transit lines, including high speed railway lines, intercity railway lines and metro lines. Based on the development concept of seamless connectivity, Guangzhou South Station ICC will be developed into a world-class international integrated GBA project for living, work and travel. It will attract more enterprises and talent to invest, work and live in Guangzhou and Panyu, and promote innovation and entrepreneurship among young people from Hong Kong and Macau on the mainland.

Renowned for building premium landmarks such as Parc Central and Tianhui Plaza in Guangzhou, SHKP has fostered the economic development of the respective regions and elevated the importance of the Tianhe and Zhujiang New Town business districts. This July, State Council approved developing five cities, including Guangzhou, to become international consumption centre cities. The Group has confidence that Guangzhou South Station ICC will be a key engine driving Guangzhou to become one of international consumption centre cities and contribute to ‘great domestic circulation’.

Taking the initiative in aligning with the national development strategy to create a large, world-class integrated TOD project

Regarding the Central Government’s call for Hong Kong to take the initiative to align with the national development strategy, contribute to the country's reform and opening-up, Adam Kwok said he believes that Guangzhou South Station ICC is an important manifestation of Hong Kong’s integration into national development. As one of the largest property companies in Hong Kong, SHKP has actively participated in the country’s reform and opening-up over the past decades with its belief in Building Homes with Heart. SHKP has put in substantial efforts to develop the GBA and other cities on the mainland to contribute to the prosperous development of the GBA. 

In April 2021, SHKP won a bid for sites adjacent to the Guangzhou South Railway Station for RMB7,082 million, to create a large, world-class, integrated transit-oriented development (TOD) project, including office towers, a shopping mall, hotel and residential units, serviced apartments, and public transport facilities, with an integrated development space of about 860,000 square metres (9.3 million square feet). The project is expected to be completed in phases from 2025.

Benefitting from the country’s busiest high speed rail hub, the Guangzhou South Railway Station, SHKP aims to turn Guangzhou South Station ICC into a large, integrated TOD, facilitating the development of High Speed Railway New Towns and fostering the development of the GBA in accordance with the national development strategy.

SHKP has decades of experience in developing large transit-oriented integrated projects in Guangzhou, including premium landmarks such as Parc Central in the central business district of Tianhe; Tianhui Plaza in Zhujiang New Town; Forest Hills in Linhecun of Tianhe. Nansha’s Qingsheng project is in progress and Guangzhou South Station ICC is the latest. SHKP will further its efforts to participate in city upgrade and transformation. 

SHKP has built landmark projects under its IFC and ICC brands in core cities on the mainland, such as Shanghai, Beijing, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Chengdu, including the Shanghai IFC in Lujiazui, Pudong, and ICC/IAPM on Middle Huaihai Road, Puxi. A large integrated complex in progress, the Jianghehui project in Hangzhou, is under construction. The projects are very popular on the mainland and well received by multinational enterprises. They have become key engines driving local economic development.