Ascott International has officially opened the Somerset ZhongGuanCun, its latest serviced residence in Beijing.

This 154-unit serviced residence was acquired in August 2006, in line with the Group's target to triple its portfolio in China to 10,000 units by 2010.

Lucas Loh, Managing Director of Ascott International for China, and Senior Vice-President of The Ascott Group said, "We are strengthening our positioning in the key Chinese cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou while simultaneously expanding into potential secondary cities like Suzhou and Xi'an. 2006 has been a positive year for us. In addition to opening Somerset ZhongGuanCun in Beijing, we also soft opened the first Citadines in Shanghai this year, with plans for a grand opening soon. We signed five contracts this year and at least four more properties will be opened very soon."

This property is Ascott's fourth in Beijing and was acquired from the Beijing Yuanzhong Real Estate Development Company for RMB302 million. Ascott had made an additional investment of RMB33.7 million
towards the refurbishments of the serviced residence.

To cater to the potential demand spurred on by the upcoming Olympics Games, there will be 172 units of ZhongGuanCun Residences available for corporate leasing starting from January 2007, on top of the 154 units of serviced residences currently available in Somerset ZhongGuanCun. All units will be available to both short and long stay residents.

The largest international serviced residence operator in China, Ascott International currently has over 3,600 units in 18 properties across China.