SM to open 9th China mall in October
The SM Group will open its ninth mall in China next month, betting on resilient spending in Fujian province to offset the country’s economic slowdown.
SM Supermalls president Steven Tan told reporters last week the new mall in Xiamen City would take up around 60,000 square meters (sq m) of space.
“We’re focusing more on the Fujian province because our founder was from Fujian and we know the market better,” Tan said during a press briefing.
SM currently has the main SM Xiamen, which was opened in December 2001 and has already expanded to four buildings.
Apart from Xiamen, its other malls in China are located in Chengdu, Chongqing, Tianjin, Suzhou, Zibo, Jinjiang and Yangzhou, which opened in 2023.
In all, its operational malls in one of the world’s largest economies span a total of 1.7 million sq m.
Asked whether they would expand in other major Chinese cities, Tan said: “Not yet. But if there’s an opportunity, we’ll always look into [it].”
For now, Tan said they had another upcoming mall in China slated to open within the next two years.
In the Philippines, SM Supermalls is looking at opening one flagship mall every year until 2030 as part of its broader goal of having 115 malls in its portfolio by 2035.
These are SM Sta. Rosa (Yulo) in Nuvali in 2026, Harrison Plaza in Manila in 2027, SM Malolos in Bulacan province in 2026, Cavite in 2029 and Pasay in 2030.
SM currently has 88 shopping malls in the country, with SM La Union set to open in October, according to Tan.
The company plans to invest P150 billion in the major redevelopment of 16 existing malls and the construction of 14 new lifestyle malls.
In the first six months of the year, parent firm SM Prime Holdings Inc. booked a record P24.5 billion in earnings. This meant an increase of 11 percent on the back of higher rental income, real estate sales and ancillary revenues.
SM’s top line likewise climbed by 5 percent to P68 billion. Malls, offices, hospitality and MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) did the heavy lifting and accounted for 60 percent of the total.
