26 June 2007 - Asian Citrus, the largest orange plantation owner and operator in China, announces that the Group has been granted the Forward Sell Licence For Commodity House (the Pre-sale Licence) by the Jiangxi Provincial Construction Bureau and the pre-sale of the units started in May 2007.
As announced on 1 September 2006, the Group is developing two parcels of land occupying a total area of approximately 0.2 sq. km in the Xinfeng County Zhongduan Industrial Park for the establishment of an agricultural wholesalers' market and an orange processing centre (the 'Xinfeng Development'). The project involves the construction of approximately 150,000 sq. metres of commercial units, together with a car park, a block of serviced apartments and other ancillary services. A total of around 650 commercial units are expected to be sold to local producers, who will use the units to sell their produce. It is the plan of the Group to undertake the Xinfeng Development in three phases. Due to certain amendments in the development plan, the number of units in phase 1 has been revised from 252 units to 238 units.
On 6 May 2007, the Group was granted the Pre-sale Licence by the Jiangxi Provincial Construction Bureau and the pre-sale of the units of the Xinfeng Development started simultaneously. As at 22 June 2007, 184 units, representing approximately 77% of the total units available for sales in phase 1, have been sold during the pre-sale with a total consideration of approximately RMB54.6 million (£3.58million). RMB920,000 (£60,000) has been received by the Group as deposit as of today and 30% of the consideration will be received from the respective buyers as down payment on or before 2 July 2007. The remaining will be paid upon completion of application of mortgage by the respective buyers, which is expected to be completed no later than 45 working days from the signing of the official sale and purchase agreement.
Tony Tong, Chairman and CEO, commented; 'The Xinfeng Development is one of the largest agricultural trade and wholesale market in the southern part of China which represents a landmark to the Group's latest development. ''The success of the phase 1 of the Xinfeng Development has indicated that there is a strong demand for agricultural wholesalers' markets in China. We believe that the Xinfeng Development will provide long term commercial benefits to the Group as we continue to build our position as a major supplier of high quality oranges in China.'
About Asian Citrus Holdings Limited
Asian Citrus Holdings Limited is the largest orange plantation owner and operator in China and has two plantations in the Hepu county of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and the Xinfeng county of the Jiangxi province of China. Its primary goal is to sell quality oranges at an affordable price and in so doing, strengthen its position as a leading, mechanised and industrialised orange grower and distributor in China.