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LONDON: Chinese investors have been snapping up London real estate, with one-in-three buyers of newly built London homes coming from China and Hong Kong, according to one recent report.
London's Docklands was once the city's industrial heart and the world's largest port.
Now property developers are looking to China to lift the area out of recession.
They insist London is a safe bet in tough economic times- especially for Chinese investing for the long-term.
Ms Sherry Madera, from Mandarin web portal Luckywu.com, said: "London has picked up significantly and a lot of that is because foreign money is coming into it...The Chinese are following the likes of the Russian investors, and the Arabic investors who came previously, to bolster the London market. It's a safe haven, it's seen as a property market that is going to rise."
Ms Madera is so confident about the Chinese market, she has launched the world's first Mandarin web portal to attract Chinese investors - many of whom have never even visited London before putting down a deposit.
"Obviously, 5,000 miles away is a long way to come to look at a property, and you can't really see stocks or bonds, so in the same way you are looking at property as being an asset class. A lot of Chinese investors don't come and have a look around their property, they do it on the basis of yield," said Ms Madera.
Despite the optimism, it's hard to overlook the impact of the economic downturn on London's new building projects.
Property developers said ever since the financial crisis of 2008, it's been very hard to get development funding, and it's still a struggle today, which is why they are looking to China, where evidence of pre-sales can make it somewhat easier to persuade the banks to lend them the money (and) to build.
Because London is seen as an economical place to buy, Chinese investors are buying up whole floors, according to some developers here.
But it's not just about the money.
Mr Ian Cohen from City and Docklands said, "We are seeing a lot of Chinese... it's an area they like - it's fresh, it's new."
China is still an untapped market, but there are hopes recent changes to property legislation will make it easier for Chinese to buy property overseas.
Property investors said they are still banking on China.
Mr Cohen said, "They are shrewd buyers, they understand property in their own right. You can see it's becoming such a powerhouse, so as a company we are definitely looking to mainland China - 100 per cent."
And London property developers insist the market is as buoyant as ever.
- CNA/cc
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