CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has opened a China Desk for its Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region to support increasing client interest in the growing Greater China market. The desk will co-ordinate inbound and outbound cross border activity between EMEA and Greater China. It will be headed up by Bryn Davies who joins the CBRE EMEA team from the company's Beijing office.
In 2008, Greater China continued to be one of the world's premier destinations for foreign direct investment (FDI) with close to $100 billion USD committed to initiatives in Hong Kong, Mainland China and Taiwan. At the same time, Greater China's outbound FDI in 2008 will have totaled close to $40 billion USD.
Mike Strong, Chairman of CB Richard Ellis, EMEA, said: "The CBRE Greater China business has been working with a number of European based clients such as Treasury Holdings, Hugo Boss, BMW, Maersk and Barclays Capital for some time as they have looked to enter or expand within Greater China. The China Desk enables us to build upon this track record by providing clients with dedicated access to the latest market insights in relation to the opportunities which exist within the complex Chinese property markets."
Bryn Davies, Senior Director, Greater China Client Development CBRE EMEA, joins the EMEA team from CBRE Greater China where he was head of retail for the region. Based in London, Mr Davies will take responsibility for co-ordinating outbound business from clients based in EMEA as well as inbound business to EMEA from clients based in Greater China.
Commenting on his new role Mr Davies said: "The China desk allows us to streamline the cross-border process for our clients by acting as a local single point of contact for their needs in places such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau or Taiwan."
He continued: "At the same time, the initiative also enables us to provide Chinese based companies looking to enter EMEA with the ability to access the CBRE network through a simple and efficient channel of communication. In 2008 we advised on a number of cross-border transactions in London for organisations such as China Construction Bank, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China and China Netcom. These represent just the tip of the iceberg, as companies headquartered in the world's third largest economy increasingly seek better international representation."
Today's announcement follows the opening of a CBRE China Desk in the Americas region in 2008. Chris Brooke, President and CEO of CB Richard Ellis for Greater China said: "Despite the challenges associated with the current economic downturn, Greater China remains one of the most important global markets from a real estate perspective. The formalisation of the CBRE China Desk in EMEA compliments the opening of a similar function in The Americas last year and will allow us to assist our clients to move between continents in a way that is both efficient and convenient. It will also enable us to better meet the needs of clients in relation to cross border activity between Greater China and EMEA."
Source: CBRE
