The Ascott Limited has clinched seven new contracts to manage over 1,300 apartments across six cities in China and is on track to exceed its target of 80,000 units globally by 2020.

These properties mark Ascott’s first foray into Kunming and Yichang while deepening its presence in Chongqing, Dalian, Shenzhen and Xuzhou.

To date, Ascott has added more than 2,700 units across 15 properties in China this year. This is a 56% increase compared with the more than 1,700 units and 10 properties secured in the first half of 2016.

Mr Lee Chee Koon, Ascott’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “China remains Ascott’s biggest market and we are excited to be surpassing our 100th property milestone in China this year. Chinese are amongst Ascott’s top customers at our properties globally with revenue surging by 35% year-on-year. Awareness of Ascott has also grown significantly in China. In 2016, about 62% of our guests in China are Chinese. With close to 19,000 units in 104 properties across 29 Chinese cities, Ascott will achieve our target of 20,000 units in China well ahead of 2020. With this momentum, we are confident of exceeding our target of 80,000 units globally by 2020.”

In addition, Ascott has listed about 15,000 serviced apartments on Alibaba’s online travel service platform Fliggy, covering its properties in more than 20 destinations most popular amongst Chinese travellers, such as Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo, Paris and London.

Mr Lee added: “China’s rising incomes are driving domestic travel and making it the world’s biggest outbound travel market. Besides boosting our number of properties in China, Ascott is sharpening our competitive edge by having a stronger online presence. We now have one of the largest serviced apartment listings on Fliggy, which has more than 200 million users. Our penetration of the Chinese market both offline and online is already contributing to Ascott’s business worldwide.”

Of the seven new serviced residences, Tujia Somerset Garden City Chongqing is already operational while Ascott Yulian Plaza Dalian (right), Citadines Gaoke Liangjiang Chongqing, Citadines Three Gorges Yichang (left) and Somerset Q Plex Shenzhen are slated to open in 2018. Citadines Dianchi Time Plaza Kunming and Tujia Somerset Yunlong Lake Xuzhou are expected to open in 2019.

On 15 June 2016, Ascott launched its new lyf brand in China with two properties in Dalian and Shenzhen to seize opportunities in the booming millennial market and rising co-living trend.

Earlier this year, Ascott secured contracts to manage six properties in Changsha, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Wuhan, as well as two new cities �" Handan and Xuzhou.

At the recent 2017 World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia ceremony held in Shanghai, Ascott was recognised as the finest in the industry by sweeping the top accolades of Asia’s ‘Leading Serviced Apartment Brand’; ‘Leading Serviced Apartments’ in Asia and China; as well as nine accolades for these categories across Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam.