Dalian Wanda Group’s chairman Wang Jianlin announced an ambitious property plan this week as the group pivots back to its core business of mixed-use commercial and residential complexes.
万达集团董事长王健林本周宣布一项雄心勃勃的房地产计划。该集团正回归其核心业务——商业和住宅综合项目开发。
In a speech at the southern port city of Nanjing, Mr Wang committed to launching 1,000 mixed-use Wanda Plazas by 2028 in partnership with electronics retailer Suning, which is backed by Alibaba.
王健林在南方港口城市南京的一次讲话中承诺，将与电子产品零售商苏宁合作，到2028年推出1000座万达广场。苏宁得到阿里巴巴(Alibaba)的投资。
The plan shows Wanda focusing on its core property business, and may not strain its stretched balance sheet.
该计划显示万达聚焦于核心房地产业务，而且可能不会使该公司紧张的资产负债表更加紧绷。
“Dalian Wanda has been undergoing an asset light strategy, and with these plazas, Wanda can simply license their brand without putting in a lot of upfront investment,” said Zhang Hongwei, analyst at Chinese property consultancy Tospur.
“大连万达一直在执行轻资产战略，对于这些万达广场，万达只需将其品牌授权出去，而不需要大量前期投资，”中国房地产咨询公司同策(Tospur)分析师张宏伟表示。
Dalian Wanda rose to prominence as a property developer known for its mixed-use space exemplified in its Wanda Plazas, which combined shopping, dining and entertainment outlets with residential and office space. Dalian Wanda now operates 238 Wanda Plazas.
万达当年就是以开发综合用途空间而声名鹊起的。这家房地产开发商最出名的是开发万达广场——综合购物、餐饮和娱乐场所与住宅及办公空间的项目。万达现在经营着238个万达广场。
The group diversified aggressively in recent years to tap into demand from China’s emerging middle class for leisure and entertainment. It bought Hollywood studio Legendary Entertainment in January 2016 for $3.5bn, and US cinema chain AMC Entertainment in May 2012 for $2.6bn, among many other properties — deals that dramatically changed its business profile.
近年来，该集团积极进行多元化发展，利用中国新兴的中产阶层的休闲娱乐需求。它于2016年1月斥资35亿美元收购好莱坞制片公司传奇娱乐(Legendary Entertainment)，并于2012年5月斥资26亿美元收购美国电影院线AMC娱乐(AMC Entertainment)——这类交易极大地改变了万达的业务格局。
The group also aggressively built out its domestic leisure assets, including a chain of theme parks that Mr Wang said would rival Disneyland.
该集团还大举建造自己名下的国内休闲资产，包括一个连锁主题公园，王健林曾称，该主题公园将媲美迪士尼乐园(Disneyland)。
The group has been on a reversal starting in June when Beijing warned banks of excessive exposure to heavily indebted groups, including Wanda. The company in July sold its theme parks to Sunac for $6.5bn, S&P downgraded the group’s property arm to junk in September, and Mr Wang pumped $460m of his own money into the property arm in December.
今年6月，北京方面警告各商业银行，它们对包括万达在内的负债累累的集团敞口可能太大了。此后万达的形势开始逆转。大连万达商业地产7月将其主题公园资产以65亿美元出售给融创(Sunac)，标准普尔(S&P) 9月将大连万达商业地产的评级调降为垃圾级，万达商业地产海外有限公司12月将其在万达酒店发展65.04%的股权转让予王健林全资持有的新公司。
“I view this [announcement] as a way to shore up confidence in the international and domestic markets that Wanda is still a player, and they’re still allowed to invest,” said Shaun Rein, managing director for market consultancy CMR China. “I’m sceptical though that they are going to be able to hit that number, especially for a company that is ailing right now.”
“我认为这一宣布是为了增强国际和国内市场的信心，即万达仍是一个参与者，仍被允许投资，”市场咨询公司中国市场研究集团(CMR China)的董事总经理雷小山(Shaun Rein)表示。“不过我怀疑那个数字能否达到，特别是对于目前境况不佳的一家公司而言。”
Wanda opened 18 Wanda Plazas this year, falling short of its goal of 30, according to CMR China.
根据中国市场研究集团的统计，万达今年新开了18个万达广场，未能达到其设定的目标（30个）。

Offshore groups wholly or partly owned by Dalian Wanda have $10.7bn in long-term debt outstanding, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.
标普全球市场情报(S&P Global Market Intelligence)的数据显示，万达全资或部分拥有的境外集团有107亿美元的未偿还长期债务。
At the event Mr Wang assured listeners of Dalian Wanda’s strong growth.
王健林在讲话中向台下听众保证，万达将保持强劲增长。
“We could use Suning as a centre store and offer other products related to food, drink and entertainment around it,” said Mr Wang, describing a “co-operation on a large scale” with Suning.
“我们会把苏宁做一个核心店，围绕着苏宁来做其他吃喝玩乐的配套，”王健林说。他表示将与苏宁开展“全面合作”。
“Wanda Plazas will cover 90 per cent of the cities in China, and two-thirds of customers with purchasing power will be Wanda’s revisiting customers,” estimated Mr Wang, adding that “Wanda has suffered very little and even no impact from e-commerce in recent years”.
“1000个店我们估计覆盖中国90%以上的城市，其中城市人口三分之二都是我们有重复消费的顾客，”王健林估计。他补充说，“这些年万达受电子商务的冲击，我们自己体会是很小的”。