KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 6): Malaysia’s Genting Group is targeting to open China’s first ski resort in a town three hour’s drive from Beijing by December this year, according to a Channel News Asia report which cites Lim Chee Wah, the youngest son of the late Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong and brother of Genting group chairman Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay.
The “10 billion dollar” Genting Resort-Secret Garden, spanning 1.3 million sq ft with 80 ski runs, in Hebei, China, wil also house amusement parks, shops, restaurants and hotels, the report dated September 5 read. Plans are also underway for a 3,000 seat convention centre in a 100 sq metre site.
The report did not specifically mention what role would Genting play in the project but said Lim Chee Wah, who is group executive chairman of Hong Kong-listed VXL Capital Ltd, is the Hebei project’s “main investor””.
“In the initial years, we are looking at growing to about 80,000 for the beginning and it will grow to about 1.2 million to 1.5 million visitations a year,” Chee Wah was quoted as saying in the news report.
“Workers have been hustling around the clock to meet the December [opening] deadline,” the report read.
There was no mention of the resort having any gaming facilities. As it is, Macau is the only city in China where gambling is legal.
The resort, which targets mainly Chinese visitors, reportedly hopes to also draw visitors from Russia and Southeast Asia with a nearby military airport being converted for civilian use. A high-speed rail connection to the city would also be reportedly ready next year.
China’s Ski Association estimates 20 million skiers in China by 2014, the report said, adding that other players like Club Med is planning to have five ski villages in China by 2015 while China’s Wanda Group
is building a resort nearer North Korea. Not many Chinese are expected to ski, though they might visit the resort for the experience, the report said, adding that most revenue initially should be from activities other than skiing.
Headquartered in Hong Kong, VXL Capital calls itself an “innovative concept developer in Asia, with special emphasis on the greater China region”. Its core businesses are property investment and financial services, but the company is also seeking to diversify into resource investment, according to data on its website. Chee Wah, founder of the VXL Group, was formerly deputy managing director of Genting Bhd and joint managing director of Asiatic Development Bhd (now Genting Plantations Bhd) from 1985 to 1990.
VXL Capital also has offices in Shanghai and in Wisma Genting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, according to its website.
Its website also lists the Genting Group, Star Cruises and the Lim family's private-vehicle Kien Huat Development Sdn Bhd as among its "business alliances".
In reply to a query by The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong (HKeX) for “unusual price and volume movement” yesterday (September 5), VXL Capital said it was not aware of any reason for the recent increases.
“We also confirm that there are no negotiations or agreements relating to intended acquisitions or realisations… neither is the Board aware of any matter undisclosed under general obligations… which may be of price-sensitive nature,” the reply to the HKeX query.
Closing at 24.1 Hong Kong cents yesterday, VXL Capital had doubled in price since August 27.