Liu Minxia, Zhang Hao

    mllmx@msn.com

    TWO months after its land auction, the Qianhai authority unveiled plans yesterday to put four more land parcels up for sale at the end of next month as it is quickening the area’s pace of construction.

    The four lots to be sold span 23,400 square meters and have a total base price of 3.25 billion yuan (US$528.46 million). The land parcels would be targeted for sale to companies in the supply chain, e-commerce, product research and development, or export and import trade businesses, which are either overseas-based or have an established presence in Shenzhen’s Qianhai zone. Previous media reports said Qianhai might invite Hong Kong firms to join the land auction.

    The 15-square-kilometer zone adjacent to Hong Kong won the Central Government’s support in 2010 as a pilot zone for developing the modern service industry through cooperation with Hong Kong, but its appeal to Hong Kong companies has not been significant to date.

    A lack of specific details on incentives being offered to companies and vague policies has posed barriers for some potential investors in Qianhai, which is still a construction site.

    The Qianhai authority said it has been considering better ways to sell land to increase its appeal to Hong Kong firms since the beginning of the year. It plans to sell one-third of the land to be auctioned this year to Hong Kong companies.

    Internet giant Tencent Holdings won a 24,948-square-meter land parcel in Qianhai for 1.55 billion yuan in the land auction in May.

    Last year, Qianhai auctioned six parcels of land totaling 2.55 million square meters for 40.7 billion yuan.