Hong Kong's mainland-focused property developer Shui On Land yesterday vowed to repay an 875 million yuan (US$109 million) loan to the Shanghai social security fund, which was arranged by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.

 

"We will voluntarily pay it back to the bank as soon as possible," said Ronny Pang Chau Ying, spokeswoman for Shui On Land Ltd.

 

Shui On Land hasn't received any official notice asking it to pay back the money, but it has decided to clear the market of worries over the debt, she said.

 

Last month, after the central government started its pension fund investigation in Shanghai, Shui On Group Chairman Vincent Lo Hong-sui admitted that his company had borrowed 1.5 billion yuan (US$187.5 million) from the fund.

 

The loan was arranged by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank acting as an intermediary, to invest in a large-scale project in the Yangpu District of Shanghai.

 

"We signed a borrowing contract for 1.5 billion yuan (US$187.5 million) with Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, not with the pension fund, and have already used part of the money, that is, 875 million yuan (US$109 million)," said Pang Chau Ying.

 

Shui On Land denied it is directly linked to the pension fund scandal, and will pay the money not to the pension fund, but to the bank.

 

"The bank may give it back to the pension fund later," said the spokeswoman.

 

She declined to give any clear answer to the question of whether the money is included in the 3 billion yuan (US$375 million) which was misused by sacked Shanghai officials like Chen Liangyu, the city's former Party Secretary, to invest in highways and property.

 

"The contract is legal and effective," she said.

 

A Shanghai municipal government official told China Daily yesterday that Mayor Han Zheng, now acting Party chief in Shanghai, demanded in a meeting the recovery of the misused pension funds "as soon as possible."

 

But the official would not reveal the names of the borrowers.

 

More than 10 local developers and another Hong Kong-based developer are reported to have used the money and will now have to pay it back within a limited time.

 

"Recovering the pension fund will not have a great impact on the property companies, since the sum of the recovered money is not too much for large developers like Shui On Land," said a market analyst.

 

On Monday and Tuesday, the share prices of domestic developers saw a noticeable decline in various ranges, although Chen's sacking only caused a slight fall in the Shanghai composite index.

 

"Those companies with strong government ties bore the brunt of the decline", said an analyst who specializes in listing property companies.

 

As a typical example, Shanghai Industrial Development Co Ltd, a major listed developer in Shanghai, saw its share price drop 6.6 percent to close at 7.99 yuan (US$1) on Monday. "Its share drop once nearly approached the price decline limit of 10 percent," said the analyst.

 

However, share prices including those of local property companies stopped falling yesterday and managed a small lift.

 

(China Daily September 28, 2006)