Xu Weiping, chairman of ABP, plans to take the concept of hubs for headquarters to other European countries. Provided to China Daily

"As the next financial hub, it will have a stronger focus on Asia because Asia's financial services industry is growing fast and is emerging as an important part of the global economy."

The business park's arrival is timely particularly because the Chinese economy is rapidly shifting from a model of "made in China" to "created in China", and many Chinese businesses will go global in this process, Xu says.

"The UK and China are highly suitable partners for growth. The UK economy is very inclusive and welcoming for foreign investment. So I think investing in the UK will help a lot of Chinese companies truly go global and in turn realize a strategic shift to the Chinese economy."

Advantages of investing in Britain include a large talent pool with many internationally minded workers, the country's high level of internationalization and a robust legal system, he says.

ABP will not announce where its next business hub for headquarters in Europe will be for another one or two years, but Xu has clear ideas on the matter.

"It is likely to be in Germany, because the German manufacturing industry is very attractive for Asian manufacturing businesses. In the past, a lot of Chinese businesses have imported from Germany, but now we can set up research and development centers in Germany. After the R&D stage, we can take production to Asia to reduce costs."

Working with the British developer Stanhope and architects and master planners Farrells, ABP says it is committed to developing a minimum of 55,740 square meters in the first phase of the London project.

Thirty percent of investment in the project will come from ABP, 30 to 40 percent from bank loans and private equity investors, and the rest from pre-sales and sale of property, Xu says.

However, some property industry insiders have questioned the viability of the project, particularly in regard to the suggested $1.51 billion development value.

Last year The Financial Times quoted one property developer as saying: "To spend that kind of money on a scheme that is always going to be height-restricted (due to its proximity to London City Airport) just doesn't add up.

"The rent they would need to achieve to justify that kind of spend would be far higher than has ever been paid in the area."

In response to the criticism, Xu says he believes the value of the Royal Albert Dock land should be seen in a different perspective from surrounding land because of its potential.

The traditional way of looking at property value explains why no investor has chosen to transform the area over the past decades, he says, but he believes the transformation ABP brings will increase the region's property value. "Now we are bringing in a lot of companies."

Xu says the project in its first phase is expected to sell office space at about 4,300 pounds ($7,000; 5,200 euros) a square meter. But after the project is completed, prices are expected to rise to between 5,000 pounds and 6,000 pounds a square meter, he says, adding that these are conservative predictions.

The buildings will not be very high, he says, the highest being 10 stories, and those alongside the River Thames will be five stories.

"I think a good concept needs to be taken global to truly realize its potential and value," Xu says. "In the past China has always learnt business concepts from abroad, but I believe now is the time for it to take its own good ideas and go global."

Contact the writers through cecily.liu@chinadaily.com.cn

Deng Yajun and He Chao contributed to this story.

( China Daily European Weekly 01/17/2014 page32)