China Minsheng Investment (CMI) and Advanced Business Park will jointly invest GBP 1bn to develop a new commercial district in east London. Asian Business Port will be the first major overseas project for CMI, which was established last August by a group of privately owned Chinese companies. The fund is headed by Dong Wenbiao, who stepped down after eight years as chairman of China Minsheng Bank shortly before CMI was launched. CMI said at a signing ceremony in Shanghai last weekend that it would be supplying most of the project funds, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The 600,000 sq ft first phase of Asian Business Port, going up on a 35-acre plot at London’s Royal Albert Dock, will include offices and housing. It is scheduled for completion in 2017. Once all four phases are completed in 2023, Asian Business Port is expected to offer more than 700,000 sq ft of office space and 4.7 million sq ft of built area, including eight public squares, retail and a waterfront boulevard.
