Ascott Deepens Presence In Chengdu With First Citadines

CapitaLand's wholly-owned serviced residence business unit, The Ascott Limited (Ascott), has secured a contract to manage its first Citadines-branded serviced residence in Chengdu. The 177-unit Citadines South Chengdu, which is slated to open in 2014, strengthens Ascott's leadership position as the largest international serviced residence owner-operator in China with about 8,000 apartment units in 43 properties across 17 cities. In Chengdu, Ascott currently operates one Somerset-branded serviced residence and expects to open two premier Ascott-branded properties in the next two years. With this latest contract, Chengdu joins Shanghai and Suzhou as the third city in China with all three of Ascott's award-winning brands of serviced residences.

Mr Lee Chee Koon, Ascott's Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director for North Asia, said: "Chengdu has strong growth opportunities for serviced residences. Its economy grew by more than 13% for the first half of 2012 over the same period last year. In Central and Western China, Chengdu has been ranked the top city with the most Fortune 500 companies. Chengdu is also a popular tourist destination and venue for exhibitions and conferences."

Mr Lee added: "Citadines offers guests the flexibility to choose the services they require and we currently have about 70 Citadines-branded serviced residences in Asia Pacific and Europe. In China, besides Citadines South Chengdu, we have nine other Citadines-branded properties in cities such as Shanghai, Hong Kong, Suzhou and Xi'an. By bringing Citadines to Chengdu, expatriates, project teams and travellers will have more choices as they can choose from our three award-winning brands of serviced residences to suit their lifestyle needs."

About Citadines South Chengdu

Citadines South Chengdu is strategically located in Chengdu's Hi-tech District at the junction of Tianfu Street and Tianfu South Road. The serviced residence is part of the Chengdu ICON Genesis Plaza, a mixed development comprising office towers, restaurants and retail outlets. Citadines South Chengdu is also surrounded by numerous Grade A office towers which house several multinational corporations including Nokia Siemens, Symantec, Maersk, Manulife Financial, Cisco, SAP, GE and IBM. Many facilities, attractions and shopping malls such as the Chengdu International Exhibition & Convention Center, Chengdu Ocean Park, Chengdu Opera House, GTC Shopping Center and Ito-Yokado Shopping Mall are located nearby.

Residents will enjoy easy access to various destinations in the city as Citadines South Chengdu is right next to the Science and Technology Zone Metro Station. In addition, the Shuangliu International Airport and Chengdu South Railway Station are within a 30-minute drive from the property.

Citadines South Chengdu offers a range of studios to two-bedroom apartments that come with a fully-equipped kitchen and separate work and sleeping areas. Facilities at the serviced residence include a gymnasium, sauna, roof garden, breakfast lounge, children's indoor play area and meeting rooms.

About The Ascott Limited

The Ascott Limited is a Singapore brand which has grown to be the world's largest international serviced residence owner-operator. It has over 22,000 operating serviced residence units in key cities of Asia Pacific, Europe and the Gulf region, as well as over 8,000 units which are under development, making a total of more than 30,000 units.

The company operates three brands – Ascott, Citadines and Somerset. Its portfolio spans over 70 cities across more than 20 countries, 14 of which are new cities in Ascott's portfolio where its serviced residences are being developed.

Ascott, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CapitaLand Limited, is headquartered in Singapore. It pioneered Asia Pacific's first international-class serviced residence with the opening of The Ascott Singapore in 1984. In 2006, it established the world's first Pan-Asian serviced residence real estate investment trust, Ascott Residence Trust. Today, the company boasts a 28-year industry track record and award-winning serviced residence brands that enjoy recognition worldwide.

Ascott's achievements have been recognised internationally. Recent awards include DestinAsian Readers' Choice Awards 2012 for 'Best Serviced Apartment', TTG Travel Awards 2012 for 'Best Serviced Residence Operator', TTG China Travel Awards 2012 for 'Best Serviced Residence Operator in China', Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Awards 2012 for 'Best Serviced Residence Brand' and 'Best Serviced Residence in Asia-Pacific', and Business Traveller UK Awards 2012 for 'Best Serviced Apartment Company'.

About CapitaLand Group

CapitaLand is one of Asia's largest real estate companies. Headquartered and listed in Singapore, the multi-local company's core businesses in real estate, hospitality and real estate financial services are focused in growth cities in Asia Pacific and Europe.

The company's real estate and hospitality portfolio, which includes homes, offices, shopping malls, serviced residences and mixed developments, spans more than 110 cities in over 20 countries. CapitaLand also leverages on its significant asset base, real estate domain knowledge, financial skills and extensive market network to develop real estate financial products and services in Singapore and the region.

The listed entities of the CapitaLand Group include Australand, CapitaMalls Asia, CapitaMall Trust, CapitaCommercial Trust, Ascott Residence Trust, CapitaRetail China Trust, CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust and Quill Capita Trust.