Missing flight may dampen China property investment in Malaysia

(ECNS) -- Chinese real estate developers in Malaysia are concerned that the missing Malaysian Airline flight may scare off potential property buyers in the country, the National Business Daily said. [Special coverage: Searching for missing MH370]

Before the flight went missing, Malaysia had been a promising area for Chinese investors, statistics show.

China's 7th largest property developer Country Garden Holdings Co Ltd has invested over 10 billion yuan in three projects in Malaysia since 2012.

More than 6,000 house of its first project "Danga Bay" in Iskandar, southern Malaysia, were sold in first two months since it was launched last August, with sales reaching 10 billion yuan.

Following that example, Guangzhou R&F Properties Co Ltd, Macrolink Real Estate, and Agile Property Holdings Ltd all bought land in Malaysia. Shanghai Greenland Group Co has also planned to invest 20 billion yuan there.

The report estimated that the total investment by Chinese real estate developers in Malaysia had exceeded 50 billion yuan.

However, only 40 percent of buyers in the Danga Bay project are locals, while 25 percent come from China and 35 percent from Singapore.

The accident has aroused concerns about the safety of the Asian country, said Huang Lichong, president of Synergy Capital.

Lin Tong, marketing director of JH Overseas, a real estate agent, said it may make Chinese customers reconsider buying houses in developing countries and favor developed ones which are safer.

A Malaysian passenger plane carrying 239 people, including 154 Chinese passengers and 12 crew members, lost contact with air traffic control after leaving Malaysia's capital Kuala Lumpur early Saturday. It has not yet been located.