FUTIAN District People’s Court opened a court session Wednesday to hear a lawsuit filed by 13 shops against the Century Place shopping mall near Huaqiangbei in Futian District.

The shops requested that their tenancy articles with the shopping mall be modified because of the gloomy business and the promised participation of world-class brands that never came true.

Located above Huaqiang Road Station of Metro Line 1, Century Place is a shopping mall developed by a company jointly invested in by Shenzhen AVIC Real Estate and Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. Both companies are members of Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd. owned by the Hong Kong tycoon Li Ka-shing.

The shops filed the lawsuit with an aim to push the shopping mall to change the rent standard and pay for the litigation.

According to the shops, the developer of the shopping mall unilaterally adjusted the opening date of Century Place a few times. During the trial session, the shopping mall’s environment has continued to sag, which has caused losses to the shops settled in the mall.

Also, the developer has not fulfilled its promises, such as building connecting corridors from 9 Square Shopping Mall and introducing world-class brands to the shopping mall. Thus the shops are requiring a reduction in rent.

Previously, the Century Place shopping mall had filed lawsuits against several shops for not paying their rent on time.

(Zhang Qian)