Shenzhen Metro Group presented a batch of development projects to invite various businesses during its business summit and investment promotion conference Thursday.
The projects include two commercial projects, namely the 20,000-square-meter underground space at Gangxia North Comprehensive Transport Hub and the 100,000-square-meter commercial complex at Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base, and office building projects in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Fund Town. Other projects include a commercial space in Nanyou, and Nanshan Book Mall, Huaqiang North and Futian stations.
According to the company, the 100,000-square-meter commercial complex at Shenzhen Bay Super Headquarters Base is scheduled to open by the end of April.
Shenzhen Metro Group is developing the lines under the TOD (transit-oriented development) mode that combines Metro construction and property development.
“Riding the Metro is not just simply going from point A to B — commuters will have more places to eat, have fun or enjoy a movie along the way. We will center around Metro stations, especially the transfer hubs or large stations to build businesses of various sizes,” Li Gang, chairman of Shenzhen Metro Business Management Co. Ltd., said during an interview Thursday.
Based on areas surrounding Metro stations like residential neighborhoods, offices or transport centers, the company will build or develop different types of facilities and invite different businesses to move in to meet the areas’ demands.
The company’s commercial arm will also organize a bidding invitation for its advertisement resources at the stations along lines 6, 14, 16 and the spur line of Line 6 later this month.
In 2022, Shenzhen put five lines into operation, bringing the total length of the city’s Metro network to 559 kilometers, ranking fourth among Chinese cities.
Metro ridership has kept rising with the opening of more lines. On Feb. 17, ridership on all of the city’s 16 lines reached 848 million trips, posting a single-day record in the Metro’s history.
“With the construction and operation of more Metro lines, Shenzhen Metro will continue its TOD mode for the integrated development of underground spaces with above-ground neighborhoods and provide a better environment for living, commuting, working and shopping,” Li said.
The TOD mode is a strategy widely used to promote the sustainable development of transportation-land use integration in Metro station areas.
For Shenzhen Metro Group’s 20.8-billion-yuan (US$3.02 billion) operating revenue in 2020, nearly 15 billion yuan came from property development, accounting for 70% of the total operating revenue, according to a report from digital media outlet jiemian.com, which quoted the annual reports of 22 Metro companies in China.
Shenzhen Metro Group’s 2020 operating revenue reached 20.92 billion yuan and net profit was 11.1 billion yuan, ranking first among subway networks in Chinese cities.