SOHO China Case Study

case-study

About Company

SOHO China is an edifice developer based in China, mainly in the commercial and office segment, with particular suburban and mixed-application holdings in its assortment.

Zhang Xin, the CEO, and Pan Shiyi, the Chairman, set up the entity in 1995, which applies “SOHO,” the name in both Chinese and English perspectives.

The name of the company SOHO originates from the expression “Smart Office, Home Office” since the organization resolved to blend housing apartments and office rooms in the same edifice to enable a relaxed and fruitful setting.

SOHO China concentrates on realty construction in the Shanghai and Beijing CBDs (central business districts). SOHO China constructions are famous for their state-of-the-art structural design, with blueprints from luminaries like Kengo Kuma, a famous Japanese designer, and Zaha Hadid, an Iraqi planner.

The firm has constructed more than 5 million sq. m of business realty. The lion’s share of its constructions has achieved accolades and other acknowledgments for its planning.

Fortune magazine has depicted the Chinese construction behemoth as one of the most prestigious realty companies in the nation, and the New York Times has portrayed the firm as the sole and genuine prime office builder in China.

The company moved from a “construct to sell” to a “construct to own” plan in 2012. Consequently, SOHO currently possesses 1.4 million sq m of office area in Shanghai and Beijing for the long-standing outlay.

Even though SOHO sold various holdings in the latter part of the 2010s, Chairperson Pan Shiyi has stated that it will keep possessing and running its fundamental properties in Shanghai and Beijing.

Besides, in 2016 Pan observed that the changeover to “construct to possess” necessitated the organization to undergo specific thorny periods. However, by the following year, revenue from rental properties had grown by 44%, chipping to a 69% hike in the yearly net profits of the firm.

In June 2021, Zhang and Pan inked a pact to sell an operating share to Blackstone at US$ 3 billion.

Table of skyscrapers built by SOHO China 

Given below are SOHO China edifices covered in the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat Skyscraper Center catalog:   

What type of company is SOHO China?

SOHO China is apublicly-traded company.

To which sector does SOHO belong?

SOHO belongs to the realty sector.

When was the company established?

The company came into existence in 1995, 27 years back. 

Who are the originators of SOHO China?

Zhang Xin and Pan Shiyi, China-based businesspersons, are the company’s originators.

Where are the headquarters of SOHO situated?    

The company has its de facto main office in Beijing, People’s Republic of China. However, it has set up its Registered Office in the Cayman Islands.

Which territory does SOHO China serve?

SOHO serves the entire territory of the People’s Republic of China.

SOHO China Management

Zhang Xin (Chief Executive Officer)

Zhang Xin, also called Xin “Shynn,” and Xin Zhang, was born on August 24, 1965. She is a wealthy China-based entrepreneur and has mostly earned her wealth in the realty sector. With Pan Shiyi, her spouse, Xin is the erstwhile CEO and co-founder of SOHO China, a China-based commercial premises builder. Xin is an alumnus of the University of Cambridge and the University of Sussex.

Pan Shiyi (Chairman)

Pan Shiyi was born on November 14, 1963. He is a China-based business mogul and the erstwhile Chairman and Co-Founder of SOHO China. He originated SOHO China with Zhang Xin, his wife, in 1995. With his wife, the net worth of Shiyi is projected at US$ 3.5 billion. Pan resigned from the Chairman’s position on October 7, 2022, “to concentrate on aiding the artworks and benevolent quests.” His wife, Zhang Xin, also followed suit. He is an alumnus of Hebei Technical College of Petroleum Profession. Shiyi was a Senior Associate at the John F. Kennedy School of Government from 2016 to 2017.

Awards and recognitions and key milestones

  • Since 2006, the name of SOHO China has been incorporated in the All-Star Catalog of the “Most Admired Chinese Companies” on six occasions by the Fortune Magazine Chinese edition.

1995

Beijing Hongshi Industry Co., Ltd., the forerunner of SOHO China Co., Ltd., was set up.

1998-2001

Design and assembly of SOHO Modern City, a sum of over 2,200 blocks, with an overall building space of ​​480,000 sq m.

2020

January: 

The Fourth SOHO Chinese Scholars Forum took place in New York.

The New York bureau of SOHO China was accomplished and made public.

August:

Lize SOHO attained the “Public Judging Award” and “Professional Judging Award” in the 2020 Architizer A+ Awards.

September: 

Lize SOHO was effectively selected for the 2020 Design Excellence Awards patronized by the American Institute of Architects British Chapter.

Once more, Lize SOHO excelled in the 2020 AZ Awards, earning the Best Architecture Award in edifices of more than 1,000 sq m.

October:

In The Plan Awards 2020, Lize SOHO attained the Best “Business Office Building” award of the year in October 2020.

Lize SOHO was chosen for the ultimate listing of the 2020 International Tall Building Awards pioneered by the City of Frankfurt, Deka Bank, and Deutsche Bahnhof though just one edifice in China was picked, and it was Lize SOHO.

November: 

In November 2020, Emporis rewarded Lize SOHO as one of the Top Ten Skyscrapers in the World 2019.

2021

April: 

Commune at the Foot of the Great Wall opens again with Hyatt Regency.

SOHO China Publishes the 2020 ESG (environmental, social, and governance) Report.

July: 

SOHO China contributed ten million Yuan (RMB) to the Zhengzhou Red Cross Society to assist Henan in providing post-calamity rebuilding and aid supplies.

Four ventures of Guanghua Road SOHO2, Galaxy SOHO, SOHO Tianshan Plaza, and Wangjing SOHO T3 have received the “2-star green building label certificate” during the functional phase.

November:

WMP1.0 Work Management Platform, the Office Portal of SOHO China, was launched.

SOHO China Foundation contributed 10 million Yuan to the Tianshui Red Cross Society to check the pandemic and regulation jobs in Tianshui. 

December: 

Lize SOHO achieved the WAF High Honor Award at the 2021 World Architecture Festival. 

SOHO China Foundation set up a unique group to aid the ecological safeguard of Shizui Village in Maiji District, Tianshui, via an overall investiture exceeding 400,000 RMB. It also contributed a sanitization van to the inhabitants, built and revamped eight trash locations, set up fifty-four trash separating containers, and encouraged village dwellers to enforce trash gathering and sorting.

2022

April:

Dezeen chose Lize SOHO as one of Beijing’s leading ten present-day structural designs in 2022.

SOHO China publishes the 2021 environmental, social, and governance (ESG) Report.

September:

Mr. Qian Ting and Ms. Xu Jin became co-CEOs and executive directors of the organization.

Ms. Zhang Xin quit as the firm’s Chief Executive Officer to concentrate on endorsing charity and artworks and will keep working as Executive Director.

Mr. Shiyi Pan has quit as Chairman of the ESG Committee, Chairman of the Nomination Committee, and Chairman of the Board to emphasize aiding the artworks and benevolence and will stay as Executive Director.

SOHO China Financial performance 

On October 8, 2007, the company was registered with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (SEHK), and its stock code was 410. It collected US$ 1.9 billion, forming the biggest IPO of business realty firms in Asia.

SOHO China Philanthropy

The SOHO China Foundation was set up in 2005. The organization supervises the overall benevolent and charitable operations in support of SOHO China. The organization’s objective is to finance academic endeavors that help China-based pupils from underprivileged societies. The principal venture of the SOHO China Foundation is the SOHO China Scholarships, a US$ 100 million program to bestow financial help erudition for China-based pupils at leading global universities, such as Yale University (2014 October) and Harvard University (2014 July). The SOHO China Foundation, via its “Teach for China” campaign, had earlier financed academic initiatives in deprived countryside regions in China.

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