This shifts its mainland investments back to the province where founder Henry Sy Sr.’s story began before he moved to the Philippines as a young boy and eventually founded the SM Group, one of the biggest conglomerates in the country and Southeast Asia.
“We changed our [China] strategy. It’s going to focus on Fujian province. Fujian is where my father came from,” SM Prime executive committee chair Hans Sy said during a chance interview with reporters and editors last week.
“We’re not opening anymore outside [Fujian],” he added.
Despite lingering concerns over China’s property sector, SM Prime remains confident in a market it entered through Xiamen in 2001.
Decades in the making
After 25 years, SM City Xiamen has grown into the developer's largest mainland asset, spanning about 418,000 square meters, data from its latest annual report showed.
Fujian now hosts three of SM’s nine malls in China, a significant presence although still smaller than its core Philippine market, where the property giant operates 90 malls nationwide.
The Fujian malls are SM City Xiamen, SM City Haicang, which opened in October 2025, and SM City Jinjiang, located near the hometown of Henry Sy Sr.
Outside Fujian, SM operates malls in Tianjin, Chengdu, Chongqing, Suzhou, Yangzhou and Zibo.
Holding the line
“We’re still maintaining [those malls]. They’re still okay,” Sy said.
Asked if SM Prime plans to sell some of its China malls, he replied: “We’ll see.”
“This is not the right time to sell,” he added.
At the center of the strategy is Xiamen, a major coastal city that helped connect generations of Chinese migrants to the Philippines.
Beyond malls
While SM City Xiamen started as a commercial hub, subsequent expansion moves have turned it into a sprawling office and lifestyle center.
Then on June 1, SM Prime opened its first hotel in China under the four-star voco brand.
Operated by InterContinental Hotels Group, the 325-room property sits within the SM Xiamen complex.
The project marks SM’s first venture into China’s hospitality sector and broadens the group’s presence on the mainland.
The long game
The hotel is also the latest sign of SM’s willingness to keep investing through economic cycles, a philosophy Sy has long championed in the Philippines.
It’s this same approach that has shaped some of the group’s biggest investments over the years.
—Edited by Miguel R. Camus
