A NUMBER of shop tenants in Caiwuwei, one of the oldest urban villages in Shenzhen, are reluctant to move out and have failed to reach agreements with their landlords during the village’s renovation and their resulting relocation.

In response, Shenzhen Caiwuwei Industrial Co. Ltd. said it will try its best to address the difficulties of the tenants. The Xinwei Community Work Station that administers Caiwuwei has also said it is paying close attention to the tenants’ appeals and has established a negotiation platform for the parties involved to resolve their disputes, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported Friday.

The renovation project started with the signing of a contract for the demolition of private properties this May 10, according to the Daily.

A man surnamed Shi, 49, has been renting a shop in Caiwuwei to sell household electrical appliances and furniture since 2015, when he opened the store with the assistance of friends. “The business was pretty good, at least we could make a living out of it. But this April, the landlord suddenly informed us that we should move out,” Shi told the Daily.

According to Shi, he did not receive any official notice before the landlord notified him of the relocation. The landlord sent him the message via WeChat and asked them to move out in two months.

Shi said his household appliance and furniture business was at its peak sales season for the summer, and the sudden relocation would bring him great economic losses. “Many of our orders can now only be returned. We have also suffered great losses in deposits.”

Shi hoped that the landlord would compensate his economic losses, but the latter did not give him a reply. “The landlord only asked us to pay rent and relocate, and ignored our request for relevant compensation. I have two children who are attending schools in the vicinity. The relocation will only aggravate our financial burden,” Shi said.

Another business owner, surnamed Zeng, came to Caiwuwei in 2016 and opened a store selling fried chicken cutlets. “This is a franchise store and it cost me over 500,000 yuan (US$70,808) to pay the franchise fees, transfer fees and decoration costs.”

Zeng said that relocating the store would make further operation difficult, because the money he invested in the store has yet to be recovered. Zeng has yet to reach a consensus with his landlord regarding compensation.

Cai Jianguang, chairman of Shenzhen Caiwuwei Industrial Co. Ltd., said several of the workgroups processing the lease terminations have been designated to coordinate and solve problems encountered by tenants as much as possible. They will also introduce high-quality housing agents and invite lawyers to provide legal assistance for tenants.

The Xinwei Community Work Station also established a negotiation platform that has helped 60 tenants reach agreements with their landlords since May 10.

Located in Luohu District, Caiwuwei is one of the oldest urban villages in Shenzhen. The village’s renovation project was launched in August 2013. The land area to be demolished and rebuilt covers about 310,000 square meters. (Zhou Ting)