The Philippines' largest mall operator plans to build its new mall in the industrial city of Tianjin in China， which the company said will be SM Prime Holdings, Inc.'s biggest shopping mall to date，SM Prime told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday
The mall, expected to be the biggest that the company will build so far, will have a gross floor area of 530,000 square meters.
It is bigger than SM Prime's SM Mall of Asia's gross leasable area of 406,962 square meters. SM Mall of Asia is currently the third largest mall in Asia and the largest in the Philippines.
"In the last 25 years, SM Prime redefined and enhanced its vision, mission, and core values, enabling it to create strategies that foster sustainable growth and expansion. A bigger and bolder SM Prime has since emerged, ready to take on the vast opportunities that will come from a robust and still growing Asian economy," Hans T. Sy, SM Prime president said.
SM Tianjin, which is only about 30 minutes by high-speed train and roughly one and a half hours by car from Beijing, is expected to open in 2013 and will feature three oval-shaped arch buildings.
"(SM Tianjin) will be a grand showcase of how SM Prime has transformed into a first rate mall owner and developer not just in the Philippines but also in select cities of China," the company said.
At present, SM Prime already operates four malls in China, namely SM City Xiamen, SM City Jianjing, SM Lifestyle Center, also in Xiamen, and SM City Chengdu. SM Prime is owned by Philippines' richest man Henry Sy, Sr.
