ACRI/Urban Taskforce industry breakfast
ACRI/Urban Taskforce industry breakfast: Has Chinese capital stopped investing in Australian real estate or is it just the tip of the iceberg?
This annual industry breakfast hosted by the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at the University of Technology Sydney and Urban Taskforce Australia presented updates on the property development industry in both China and Australia, and how the two nations interact on property issues. Industry leaders Jason Gao, Regional Director, Shokai Ausbao and Sherwood Luo, Managing Director, Greenland (Australia) Investment provided insights into future trends, including the move towards larger-scale developments with shared amenities (such as parks, shops, and child care) and trends towards more urban living in both countries. Following their presentations, they joined a panel discussion with Su-Lin Tan, Journalist, The Australian Financial Review and Stuart Dixon-Smith, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons.
The discussion and Q&A session with the audience was chaired by Professor Bob Carr, ACRI Director.
This event was made possible with the kind suppport of King & Wood Mallesons.
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Speakers
Stuart Dixon-Smith, Partner, King & Wood Mallesons
Stuart is recognised by industry year on year as a market leading real estate expert who has one of Australia’s most exceptional legal reputations across the real estate sector. He is consistently sought out by blue chip clients to provide strategic, commercial advice on their most complex real estate transactions and urban renewal projects.
Stuart has helped shape the Australian real estate landscape and sky lines of our nation. He advises clients on their transformational property development and property finance activity. Stuart acts for developers or lenders on the construction, financing and development of major properties and infrastructure projects. He is vastly experienced in the range of issues associated with large-scale infrastructure and property projects including structured titles, stamp duty, property-related taxation, public property trusts, listings and debt issues.
Jason Gao, Regional Director, Shokai Ausbao
Jason Gao is Regional Director, Shokai Ausbao. Shokai Ausbao is the Australian arm of the Shokai Group, one of China’s leading diversified real estate and urban infrastructure developers. Jason has 17 years' experience in the real estate industry, specialising in areas of feasibility study, project marketing, project management and construction management. Jason joined Beijing Capital Development Holding Group (Shokai Group) in 2001 and has been engaged in many large scale projects in Beijing and Tianjin. Jason was transferred to Australia in 2008. He oversees the operation of Shokai Ausbao, including property development and hotel management. Jason holds both Bachelor and Masters degrees in Civil Engineering from Tsinghua University in Beijing as well as a Master of Commerce from the University of Sydney.
Dr Guotao Hu, Chief Executive Officer, Country Garden Australia
Dr Guotao Hu is the Chief Executive Officer of Country Garden Australia and is responsible for running all facets of the business, cross over investment, operations, sales and marketing, landscape, project management and finance. Dr Hu is leading Country Garden Australia's focus on delivering medium and long lifecycle projects across residential and mixed-use projects, as well as large-scale master planned communities. Currently, Country Garden Australia’s landholdings are located in New South Wales and Victoria. Mr Hu has a PhD in Philosophy from the Imperial College, London and a Bachelor of Civil Engineering from Beijing Jiatong University.
Sherwood Luo, Managing Director, Greenland (Australia) Investment
Sherwood Luo is Managing Director of Greenland (Australia) Investment. Mr Luo joined the company in 2013 as Managing Director. Mr Luo is responsible for the daily operations of the company and has overseen $1.6 billion of investment in local real estate projects including Greenland Centre Sydney, Lucent North Sydney, Omnia Potts Point, Leichhardt Green and Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne. There is also a joint venture with GH Properties in Erskineville, Sydney. Mr Luo has a degree in Architecture and a Masters in Architecture Design and Theory from Tongji University.
Su-Lin Tan, Journalist, The Australian Financial Review
Su-Lin Tan is a real estate reporter with The Australian Financial Review and also covers Asian business and trade in Australia. She is also author of Sinofile, a column in AFR BOSS magazine on how to work with Asia. A Malaysian-born Chinese, she went school in Singapore in her early years, and also speaks Mandarin and Malay. She is a chartered accountant and formerly worked in investment banking. She has had stints at Babcock and Brown and AMP Capital in Sydney and worked in London prior to that.
