China Center and the Chinese business community in Pakistan

What does China Center mean for Chinese businesses in Pakistan?

The name reflects the developer’s intent: a building where Chinese professionals and businesses in Pakistan can shop, eat and live in one place. Creation Developers (Pvt) Ltd is building it on Plot no. 563, Central Business District, Bahria Town, Phase VIII, Islamabad, in the Rawalpindi/Islamabad twin-city area. Al Faisal Properties runs the sales desk.

It is positioning, not a rule. Nothing about the project limits who can buy or trade there, and Pakistani and overseas-Pakistani buyers purchase units on the same terms. For a Chinese trader or company, the question is the same as for anyone else: does the space, the price and the plan suit the business?

What space is there for shops, restaurants and staff housing?

The building mixes three kinds of space, which is what makes the positioning practical. The developer’s plan set covers a lower ground, the ground floor and floors one to eight.

For a company with staff in the twin cities, that combination – a shopfront, a place to eat and somewhere to live under one address – is the core of the idea. Whether it works for you depends on your trade and your team, so treat it as a starting point for your own evaluation rather than a conclusion.

• Shops on four floors – the lower ground, ground, first and second – from 100 to 306 sq ft on the current inventory sheet.
• Food-court units of 570 to 617 sq ft (FC3, FC4, FC9 and FC10), floor to be confirmed with the developer; the 8th-floor plan draws a food-court hall wrapped by a dining terrace.
• Apartments: 450 and 650 sq ft units on the 7th floor, and studios and one-bed apartments on the 3rd to 6th floors on the developer’s typical plan (ask for current availability).

Which floors suit which trades?

The owner has set a planned focus for each floor: babies’ and kids’ products on the lower ground; ladies’ fashion, jewellery and cosmetics on the ground floor; home décor on the first; mobiles, laptops and gadgets on the second; and restaurants and terrace dining on the 8th. These are the owner’s plans for each floor, not signed tenants, leases or a promise of footfall; ask at booking what they mean for your trade.

Some matches are easy to see. A business importing electronics or accessories might look first at the second floor, where the listed shops run from 120 sq ft (Rs 48,00,000) to 306 sq ft (SF01, Rs 1,22,40,000). A household-goods or furnishings trader might start with the first floor, where listed shops are 120 to 180 sq ft, from Rs 48,00,000 to Rs 72,00,000. A restaurant operator would look at the food-court units.

What does space at China Center cost, and how is it paid?

All prices are from the developer’s current inventory sheet and confirmed at booking. The rate is Rs 40,000 per sq ft on the lower ground, first and second floors and for the food court, Rs 55,000 per sq ft on the ground floor, and Rs 15,000 per sq ft for the 7th-floor apartments.

Every unit uses one plan: 30% down, 24 instalments of 2.5% each (60% in all) and 10% on possession, with the instalment schedule confirmed at booking. A food-court unit such as FC10 (570 sq ft) is Rs 2,28,00,000: Rs 68,40,000 down, then 24 instalments of Rs 5,70,000 each, and Rs 22,80,000 on possession. A 650 sq ft 7th-floor apartment such as 701 is Rs 97,50,000: Rs 29,25,000 down, 24 instalments of Rs 2,43,750 and Rs 9,75,000 on possession.

What should a Chinese company or professional check first?

Ownership comes before everything. Whether, and how, a foreign national or a foreign-owned company can hold property in Pakistan is a legal question, and the answer depends on your status and structure. Take advice from a Pakistani lawyer before booking, and make sure the name on the booking form is one that can lawfully hold the unit.

Language is the second practical point. A Mandarin-speaking contact at the sales desk has not been confirmed, so if you are more comfortable in Mandarin, bring your own interpreter or a colleague to meetings, and ask for every term in writing. Written English documents are also easier to share with your head office or your own adviser, who may be the person who signs off the purchase.

Third, match the unit to how your business will actually use it. A showroom, a stockroom, a kitchen and a staff flat each have different needs, and it is worth listing them before you visit rather than after.

• Legal advice on who can hold title, and in which name.
• The documents the developer holds for the plot and the building, and the authority that issued each.
• For a restaurant: the confirmed floor of your food-court unit, and the services it will have – gas, extraction, water and drainage.
• For staff housing: the layout of the 450 or 650 sq ft apartment you are considering.
• For payment: the payee (the developer’s commercial payment plan names Creation Developers (Pvt) Ltd for cheques and pay orders) and the instalment schedule, both in writing.

What does the positioning not promise?

Being positioned for the Chinese community is not the same as having Chinese tenants lined up. No anchor brands, leases or footfall figures are published, and nothing here suggests income or appreciation. Evaluate each unit on its own numbers and on what you would do with it.

Equally, the positioning excludes no one. A Pakistani family business next to a Chinese electronics importer is exactly the kind of mix the building is open to, and both would buy on the same inventory sheet and the same payment plan.

What is the next step?

Decide which kind of space you need – a shop, a food-court unit or an apartment – and shortlist unit codes from /shops, /food-court or /apartments. Then WhatsApp the sales desk, Al Faisal Properties, on +92 334 9107537 for a written quotation, and book a site visit to Plot 563 with your lawyer’s questions in hand.