Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments Limited - Annual Report 2021
background to develop a modern aquacultural industry around Mulberry-dyke and Fish Pond, designated as one of the world’s Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems by the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation since 2017. As our project will provide employment for local residents as well, we believe that Project Phoenix will stand to benefit from China’s recently announced “common prosperity” initiative which aims to improve income distribution by directing resources into rural areas. Our revised master development plan under Project Phoenix has received positive feedback from the relevant local government authorities and we will provide more details about the project when the Huzhou City National Land and Space 2020-2035 is finalised and published. While Project Phoenix will help to meet the shortage in senior housing and facilities in China, our broader objective is to build on our achievements in this development to forge a reputation for APS as a choice partner for other integrated active ageing retirement townships in and outside China. On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank our shareholders, clients and business associates for their steadfast confidence and patience in our ability to spearhead the Group’s strategic move into the hospitality and senior village sectors in China and Southeast Asia. To all our directors, staff and management, thank you for your unwavering trust, perseverance and hard work as we work together, forging new paths to build a solid reputation and bright future for APS in real estate. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND APPRECIATION
Well placed to ride on this trend is the Group’s 113-room luxury riverside boutique hotel which lies in the heart of the ancient city of Huzhou with its rich legacy in calligraphy, painting and silk cultivation. The hotel has been renamed Anatole by Landison Hotel Huzhou 湖州雷迪森怿曼酒店 (previously known as Cheery Hotel Huzhou) as a result of the Group’s recently concluded hotel brand franchise agreement with Zhejiang Tourism Investment Hotel Group 浙江浙旅投酒店集团有 限公司 (“ZTIHG”), one of the largest in China with a wide network of 157 hotels in 14 Chinese provinces under brands such as Landison and Deefly. The experience gained from successfully growing Hotel Landison’s reach through working with ZTIHG will not only strengthen our capabilities in the hospitality sector, but will also be invaluable in our search for new hotel projects in China and Southeast Asia. Even though couples in China will now be allowed to have up to three children, the country will still need to deal with its ‘massive’ demographic challenge caused by a rapidly ageing population over the next three decades 5 . It was with this need in mind that we revised our master development plan to build an integrated residential- cum-active ageing hub in Huzhou instead. Renamed “Project Phoenix” 凤凰洲项目 (previously known as the Huzhou Project), we intend the hub to be supported by a comprehensive range of professionally managed healthcare-related (including a hospital, specialist clinics and senior activity centres), commercial, educational and family entertainment facilities that promote overall well- being and life-long learning. We also plan to position Project Phoenix to enhance the rich and unique cultural heritage of Huzhou as well as build on the city’s historical farming and ecological FORGING NEW PATHS IN RETIREMENT VILLAGES
Dato’ Dr Choo Yeow Ming Chairman
1 McKinsey & Company, 30 August 2021: “China’s uneven travel recovery – Long road to international travel furthers domestic opportunities” 2 asiapacific.unfpa.org: “About Ageing” 3 Deloitte: “China’s Senior Housing – Now and the Future” 4 scmp.com, 19 August 2021: “How has China’s travel industry been hurt by the coronavirus pandemic, and when will tourism recover?” 5 scmp.com, 26 August 2021: “Xi Jinping urges China to achieve 2021 economic, social targets while maintaining coronavirus controls”
ANNUAL REPORT 2021
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