2020.05.29

A delegation consisting of Lu Yi, secretary of the Foshan Municipal CPC Committee; Cai Jiahua, a member of the Standing Committee of the Foshan Municipal CPC Committee and executive deputy mayor of Foshan; Yan Haobo, a member of the Standing Committee of the Foshan Municipal CPC Committee and secretary of the CPC Committee of Nanhai District; Zhang Chaozhi, general secretary of the Foshan Municipal CPC Committee; Pan Yongtong, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Committee of Nanhai District and director of the United Front Work Department of the District CPC Committee; Liu Wei, director of the CPC Committee Office of Nanhai District (District Government Office); and Mai Shaoqiang, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Guicheng Subdistrict, visited Times China Automobile Town on the morning of May 28, 2020. They were given an on-site survey of the project's urban renewal model so that they could assess the status of planning, construction and related operations. The group was welcomed by Zhou Siyang, vice president of Times China Holdings Limited, and Shang Tianlong, general manager of the Foshan Branch's Investment Expansion Department.

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

Mai Shaoqiang, secretary of the Party Working Committee of Guicheng Subdistrict, 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 benchmarking project of urban renewal and industrial transformation/upgrade in Nanhai District. Accordingly, the construction of Times China Automobile Town officially commenced in March. After its transformation, the collective annual rent income of the village will increase from RMB 12 million to RMB 90 million, whereby the income from taxes will grow from RMB 200 million to RMB 400 million.

Times China Holdings Limited Vice President Zhou Siyang introduced the Times Automobile Town development plan. The project, he said, would make full use of innovative commercial models to create a progressive industrial environment and public urban space. He also said it would be instrumental in the upgrading of Nanhai District and its urban-renewal effort and would be a destination for one-stop automobile purchasing and auto culture experience in the Pearl River Delta.

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

Zhou Siyang, vice president of Times China Holdings Limited, expressed his confidence to build Times Automobile Town into a new automotive industry landmark in the Pearl River Delta as well as a signature project of Foshan. First, the project involves considerable business volume and intensive scale-based advantages, with more than 1,300 mu (approximately 0.87 square kilometer) of lands for collaborative development in phases I and II. Specifically, with 625 mu (approximately 0.42 square kilometers) of listed lands, 700,000 square meters of total floor area and 600,000 square meters of floor area for the automobile industry in phase I, the project would display impressive scale effect. Construction of the phase I project is moving ahead at full speed, and project operation is slated for the end of December 2021. Second, the project has an impressive industrial base thanks to the many resources of the automobile industry. Built in 1999, South China Automobile Mall possesses profound industrial base over 20 years’ development. As of 2010, its automobile sales accounted for 86% of the total for Nanhai. Thus, it's projected that sales revenue will be in the range of RMB 1.3 billion to 1.4 billion. It has become one of the largest markets for auto sales, offering the most comprehensive variety of automobile brands in the Pearl River Delta. Third is the promise embodied by planning. Times Automobile Town would upgrade the industry from its once-scattered, inefficient chaotic state to an intensive, efficient, complex business pattern that facilitates continued development thus promoting urban transformation.

Lu Yi, secretary of the Foshan Municipal CPC Committee, said that Times Automobile Town exemplified the industrial town model and that the municipal government, adding that the government of Nanhai District would provide ample support for the construction of Times Automobile Town. He expressed hope that the project would bear fruit in the near future.

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.