The Super Brand Mall, whose west-side facade neighbours the Shangri-La Hotel, is the largest shopping centre in China.

Shanghai Kinghill, a unit of Thailand's Charoen Pokphand Group, expects the mall to achieve gross sales revenue of 1.5 billion yuan (about HK$1.4 billion) in the first year of operation.

Group president Somkit Tantadvanichkul said the estimate excluded sales to be generated from the mall's 20,000-square- metre Lotus Supermarket, scheduled to open in July.

He said the group was on target to break even in about seven years.

The US$400 million Super Brand Mall in Little Lujiazui, Pudong, has a gross floor area of 241,000 sq metres. About 80 per cent of the retail space had been leased so far, Mr Tantadvanichkul said.

Designer-label tenants such as Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna, Versace, Cerruti, Bally and Hugo Boss have signed up.

It was reported that Sun Hung Kai Properties also planned to build a commercial-retail complex in Lujiazui at an estimated US$300 million.

Mr Tantadvanichkul said customers would benefit from increasing market competition.

'I believe such a big project will take about three years to complete,' he said.

The group also secured exclusive operating rights in Little Lujiazui, meaning no other malls could be built within two square kilometres from the Super Brand Mall, he said.

'Right now, we do not have competitors, so we target ourselves as a competitor,' Mr Tantadvanichkul said.

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