A Chinese property firm is preparing to pull out of the UK as pressure from Beijing mounts on businesses to repatriate cash.
Chinese developer Greenland, which appointed agents Knight Frank and CBRE to sell part of its Ram Quarter development in Wandsworth earlier this year, is understood to be weighing up plans to sell the entire scheme as well as Spire London, a proposed residential tower in Canary Wharf.
The decision comes amid a drive by President Xi Jinping to curb rampant property markets and cut debt in the sector, as well as increasing suspicion of investment overseas which has triggered crackdowns on the tech sector.
One industry source said: “They are super, super sensitive and they don’t really want it talked about. It is the Chinese government beginning to apply pressure that they’ve applied on various companies to repatriate money… I don’t know but my sense is that that probably is the case here.
“My best guess is that they will sell the whole of it [the Ram] and sell this year.” A sale of Spire could also follow, the source said.
Greenland, a subsidiary of the Shanghai-listed parent company, first entered the market in 2014, buying the Ram Quarter site from developer Delancey. The firm was unavailable for comment and sources cautioned that Greenland’s plans to leave the UK are at an early stage and could change.
But its properties are being sized up by rivals and other major Chinese developers, including Dalian Wanda, have been cutting back their UK presence in recent years.
UK estate agents have meanwhile been warned conducting business with China is likely to become harder due to a new data protection law.
Agents dealing with Chinese residents will either have to be established in China or have a data protection representative who is.
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