
Meitu co-founder snaps up second Hong Kong commercial property in 3 months at discount
Cai paid HK$750 million (US$95.5 million) for a site measuring 5,388 sq ft (500 square metres) at 20-28 Cannon Street, formerly known as Sun On Mansion. The transaction for the commercial site, located between Jaffe Road and Gloucester Road, was completed earlier this month, according to the Land Registry.
The property was sold by the local developer Winland Group, which spent around HK$1.45 billion to consolidate ownership of the site through private purchases and a compulsory sale process that was completed in 2021. That implied that Cai had bought the site with a 48 per cent discount from the last compulsory valuation.
Construction of a 26-storey office tower by Winland had already been under way before the site was sold to Cai. Based on an estimated permissible gross floor area of 81,300 sq ft, the purchase price worked out to around HK$9,215 per square foot.
Mike Cai Wensheng, the chairman and founder of Meitu, on 6 February 2017. Photo: David Wong
The building will most likely be used for 'entrepreneurship and technology development,' Cai said, adding that plans are 'not fully confirmed yet'.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


South China Morning Post
3 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Competition should be about innovation and quality, not the price
As Beijing works aggressively to make sure the economy meets the 5 per cent growth target at year end, one new tool in its arsenal is to amend a key law to discourage vicious price wars that have plagued multiple sectors in recent years. From food delivery and e-commerce to solar power and electric cars, steep price cuts – with the aim to drive out competitors but which also undercut one's own profits – are fuelling deflationary pressure. That has led regulators to propose urgent amendments to an old pricing law. A public consultation is open until August 23. With transparency and an open mind, the authorities can use positive public feedback to fine-tune the changes. In the existing law, firms are banned from selling goods below cost to eliminate competitors or monopolise the market. The new amendment adds the condition that businesses cannot fight each other by dumping products at below-cost prices. With more transparent price regulation and oversight, they will also be prohibited from 'leveraging data, algorithms and technological tools' to chase clients and beat rivals. So far, market reactions have been positive. Listed companies in consumer services, non-ferrous metals and financial companies – sectors that have experienced cutthroat competition or what officials have termed 'involution' – have seen share prices move up since the news broke. There is, of course, a counterargument that market forces alone should decide prices. But in such cases of market failure, supervision and regulatory intervention are called for. Companies ought to compete on quality and innovation rather than price. A proper legal framework will work better to guide businesses and promote healthy competition, rather than for authorities to deliver ad hoc admonitions to offending firms when the situation has already become dire. In early July, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology warned 14 major solar firms against a vicious price war and overcapacity. The share prices of some of them rose on the news, as markets expected price cutting eating into profits would stop. But such intervention is unsystematic. A transparent legal framework should be business-friendly with clear rules and regulations. Moderating or even eliminating involution will allow more time for companies to phase out outdated practices to better compete.


South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
China's central bank vows to boost money supply, cut borrowing costs in growth push
China's central bank has pledged more liquidity and lower borrowing costs in the second half of the year, as part of a broader strategy to boost growth and implement long-term financial reforms. At a key mid-year meeting on Friday, the People's Bank of China said it would maintain a moderately loose monetary policy by cutting reserve requirement ratios and key interest rates, while making full use of targeted tools to lower overall financing costs. Amid external uncertainties, sluggish domestic demand , as well as persistent deflationary pressure, the central bank also vowed to refine its monetary policy framework, guide market expectations more effectively, and strengthen coordination with fiscal policies to support innovation, consumption, small and micro businesses, and exports. In particular, the bank said it would target 'idle capital circulation and ' involution style ' competition in the financial industry', a reference to self-defeating competition that drains resources without improving outcomes. This kind of competition has been a key concern for policymakers in various parts of the economy. However, Xu Tianchen, senior China economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said that a new round of rate cuts or reserve requirement ratio reductions was unlikely in the third quarter.


South China Morning Post
10 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
New head of scandal-hit Shaolin Temple avoids commercial activities, does manual work himself
The successor to the disgraced abbot of the internationally famous Shaolin Temple has shunned the lifestyle that got his predecessor into trouble. Advertisement Two days after Shi Yongxin, the former head of Shaolin Temple in central China's Henan province for more than two decades, was placed under investigation for financial and sex scandals, the temple announced that Shi Yinle, the abbot of The White Horse Temple, would replace him. Both holy places are located in Henan and are regarded as among the most significant Buddhist monasteries in China. Shi Yinle has been photographed driving a bulldozer as a mark of his commitment to honest work. Photo: Baidu The White Horse Temple is the first Buddhist temple in China and was established about 2,000 years ago. Shi Yinle, 59, has served as its abbot for 20 years. But, unlike his high-profile counterpart at the Shaolin Temple, Shi Yinle rarely appears in public, the Xinmin Weekly reported. Dubbed the 'CEO monk', Shi Yongxin transformed the Shaolin Temple into a multibillion-dollar cash cow. Advertisement Not only did all the items inside the temple, like bottled water and incense, come at a price, but monks frequently took part in commercial kung fu performances around the world.