The French Are Building a Mall by the Eiffel Tower, and China Wants to Buy It

  1. Heather Timmons

The country's bid to buy property in the heart of the City of Light.

China’s quest to diversify its trillions of dollars in foreign reserves away from U.S. government debt continues. Its latest foray: A Parisian shopping mall in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower.

China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, which manages the government’s $3.66 trillion in currency reserves, is one of five potential bidders for the soon-to-open Beaugrenelle development, a three-building complex in a prime location on the right bank of the Seine, according to Le Figaro. French real estate investment trust Gecina is the majority owner of the mall, which has taken about a decade to build and develop, and is expected to fetch about 700 million euros.

Shops include high-end fare like jeweler Baccarat and Petit Bateau, known for their precious (and expensive) kids-wear, along with middle-class foreign favorites like Marks & Spencer, a Chipotle Mexican Grill and a Bermuda Onion restaurant. Perhaps not coincidentally, Chinese tourists are among the biggest-spending shoppers in Paris. According to the French government’s “Do You Speak Touriste?" site, "Les Chinois" spend 40 percent of their travel budgets on shopping, mostly for luxury goods.

The investment fund managed by SAFE, as it’s known, recently overtook Norway’s massive oil wealth fund to become the largest sovereign fund in the world with $743 billion in assets, according to Esade, a Barcelona business school. SAFE, Esade notes, is "characterized by unyielding opacity," though it is universally agreed that its investing mission has been to diversify from U.S. Treasuries for years. Earlier this year, SAFE opened an office on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan to make “alternative investments” in the U.S. and its Hong Kong-based affiliate SIC has made several ill-timed acquisitions in British banks and European oil companies.
 
Location, location, location.Courtesy of Beaugrenelle
 

Le Figaro seemed somewhat aghast that China’s government might actually buy property right in the heart of Paris. “A few years ago, the assumption seemed preposterous," the paper wrote. "Today, it is very plausible."

This post originally appeared on Quartz, an Atlantic partner site.

About the Author

Most Popular

  1. photo: South Korean soldiers attempt to disinfect the sidewalks of Seoul's Gagnam district in response to the spread of COVID-19.
    Coronavirus

    Pandemics Are Also an Urban Planning Problem

    Will COVID-19 change how cities are designed? Michele Acuto of the Connected Cities Lab talks about density, urbanization and pandemic preparation.  

    1. Ian Klaus
  2. Equity

    We'll Need To Reopen Our Cities. But Not Without Making Changes First.

    We must prepare for a protracted battle with coronavirus. But there are changes we can make now to prepare locked-down cities for what’s next.

    1. Richard Florida
  3. Equity

    The Last Daycares Standing

    In places where most child cares and schools have closed, in-home family daycares that remain open aren’t seeing the demand  — or the support — they expected.

    1. Kendra Hurley
  4. photo: a bicycle rider wearing a mask in London
    Coronavirus

    In a Global Health Emergency, the Bicycle Shines

    As the coronavirus crisis forces changes in transportation, some cities are building bike lanes and protecting cycling shops. Here’s why that makes sense.

    1. Laura Laker
  5. An African healthcare worker takes her time washing her hands due to a virus outbreak/.
    Coronavirus

    Why You Should Stop Joking That Black People Are Immune to Coronavirus

    There’s a fatal history behind the claim that African Americans are more resistant to diseases like Covid-19 or yellow fever.

    1. Brentin Mock
Maps
Click Here
Newsletters
Click Here
Facebook
Click Here
×