Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited (SHKP) announced that it won the bid for sites adjacent to the Guangzhou South Railway Station (GZSS). This marks yet another major transit-oriented integrated landmark project in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) (to be) developed by SHKP, following the High Speed Rail West Kowloon Station project in Hong Kong.

The Guangzhou South Railway Station is the country’s busiest High Speed Rail station, with an average daily passenger flow of over 500,000. Its annual arrivals and departures totalled 188 million passengers in 2019, which was about 30% more than the second-busiest High Speed Rail station. Sitting at the two ends of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link, the Group’s Guangzhou South Railway Station project and the Hong Kong West Kowloon Station project will benefit from their synergy, helping Hong Kong achieve quicker and more effective integration into the overall development of both the GBA and the country.

SHKP Executive Director Adam Kwok, who is in charge of the Group’s GBA projects (including the Guangzhou South Railway Station project), said, “The National 14th Five-Year Plan calls for proactively and progressively taking forward the development of the GBA. SHKP has full confidence in the prospects of the GBA and has been actively seeking suitable projects for investment. We are proud to participate again in developing another high-quality project in the area. As the Intercity Rail Plan of the Greater Bay Area gains traction, the Group will make its best efforts to transform the country’s busiest High Speed Rail Station into a world-class integrated landmark for living, working and travelling in GBA. By creating a ‘Guangzhou South Railway Station New Town’, we hope to attract more young people from Hong Kong and Macao to study, work, start businesses and reside in the mainland, while promoting extensive exchanges among the young people of the three places.”

The sites were acquired for RMB7,082 million. The project will provide a one-stop destination for business, living and travel, with the master plan concept of “commerce on the east and transport on the west”, offering office towers, a shopping mall, hotel and residential units, serviced apartments, and public transport facilities. The project will feature convenient walkways and transport interchange spaces, seamlessly linking the office towers and the mall to the Guangzhou South Railway Station to meet the needs of business professionals, residents and tourists.

SHKP aims to attract leading corporations to set up their GBA headquarters in this development, facilitating the transformation of the district into a hub for modern service industries and emerging industries. To this end, the project will adopt flexible and balanced strategies for leasing and sale arrangement, providing an estimated saleable floor area of about 5.3 million square feet (including office towers and residences); the remaining approximately four million square feet, comprising a shopping mall, a hotel and a portion of the office towers, will be held by SHKP over the long term. The project is scheduled for completion in phases starting in 2025.

The Guangzhou South Railway Station has a prime location in the heart of the ‘9+2’ city cluster. As the Intercity Rail Plan of the Greater Bay Area picks up its pace, the Guangzhou South Railway Station is set to become an integrated station–city transport hub, connected to four High Speed Rail lines, three intercity rail lines and four metro lines, as well as long-distance coaches, buses, and other transport means after full completion. It will offer convenient access to GBA cities and the rest of the country. 

Benefitting from excellent connectivity, the Guangzhou South Railway Station Business District has accelerated its development. A modern industrial system is taking shape, led by modern service industries, supported by emerging industries (next-generation information technology, artificial intelligence and biomedicine), and featuring culture, sports and tourism.

SHKP has decades of experience in developing large transit-oriented integrated projects. In Hong Kong, the Victoria Harbour Gateway, comprising the International Finance Centre (IFC) and the International Commerce Centre (ICC), has become an internationally renowned business hub; and in Guangzhou, Tianhui Plaza and Parc Central are also key landmarks. With its successful experience in implementing Transit-Oriented Developments (TOD) over the years, SHKP is confident that it will help unlock the immense potential of the Guangzhou South Railway Station project and provide new impetus to the GBA, creating excellent urban engine with station–city and industry–city integration.