SINGAPORE — China’s economic growth may have been at its weakest rate in a quarter of a century last year, but some Singaporean firms with operations there are finding pockets of opportunity as the world’s No 2 economy matures from one based on industry to one fuelled by consumption.

Among them, warehouse operator Global Logistic Properties (GLP) yesterday reported a 64 per cent rise in third-quarter net profit to US$184 million (S$257.4 million), helped by a strong performance from its China operations, while CapitaLand Retail China Trust (CRCT) — the first China shopping mall real estate investment trust in Singapore — said its distributable income for the quarter ended December rose 6.5 per cent to S$21.8 million, highlighting China’s growing urban population and rising retail sales.

Singapore-headquartered GLP, which operates warehouses in China, Japan, Brazil and the United States, said its China earnings were up 50 per cent on higher asset values, growth in rent, new leases and renewed lease contracts.

Analysts expect the company to continue to benefit from demand for logistics facilities due to booming e-commerce, as well as the Chinese government’s attempts to guide its economy to a more sustainable path led by domestic consumption.

“Within China, the domestic economy is being stoked by increasing urbanisation. There are geographies within the country that are growing well above the national average, particularly in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities,” said Barclays senior regional economist Leong Wai Ho. “Logistics is one area of growth there. Logistics hubs have moved westwards. There’s been continuous investment in the sector itself,” he added.

China’s growth has been steadily falling for the past half-decade as Beijing attempts to wean the economy away from exports and infrastructure investment and towards domestic consumption and services. The economy grew 6.9 per cent last year, its slowest expansion in 25 years.

Chinese equities are slumping, too — the Shanghai Composite Index is down about 21.5 per cent this year. The yuan has weakened steadily since Beijing devalued the currency in August.

The country on Wednesday announced an economic growth target of 6.5 per cent to 7 per cent this year.

But the Chinese stock-market swings and capital outflows do not reflect trends in the economy, which is still expanding well amid efforts to rebalance growth, according to the head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

“The stock market issue, the currency issue in China, is a bit divorced actually from economic issues,” the EBRD’s president, Suma Chakrabarti, told Bloomberg in an interview on Monday. While the advance in China’s gross domestic product has slowed, 6.5 per cent “growth in the world’s second-biggest economy is pretty good actually for the rest of us”.

GLP said yesterday it signed 26 million sqf of new and renewal leases in the third quarter ended December, up 22 per cent year-on-year. Of this, 15 million sqf were in China, up 27 per cent year-on-year, the firm said.

Leasing in China continues to reflect healthy customer demand, the company said in a statement, adding that demand came from the retail, e-commerce, auto parts, pharmaceutical and healthcare industries.

“Despite the uncertain economic environment, demand for modern logistics facilities continues to be driven by long-term, structural trends in domestic consumption,” said GLP CEO Mr Ming Z Mei in a statement.

GLP’s shares rose 0.6 per cent to S$1.63 yesterday, while the broader market was up 0.3 per cent.

Consumption contributed 66.4 per cent to China’s gross domestic product last year, compared with 51 per cent the year before, the Xinhua news agency reported earlier this month. Retail sales expanded 10.7 per cent to 30.1 trillion yuan (S$6.4 trillion).

Reflecting that growth, shopping mall trust CRCT announced its distribution per unit for the fourth quarter was 2.59 cents, 4.4 per cent higher than the same period last year.

“China’s slower growth is reflective of an economy undergoing transition, but it is expanding from a much larger base now and its growth is still considerably faster than those of most other economies,” said Mr Victor Liew, chairman of CRCT’s manager, in a statement. “CRCT’s family-oriented shopping malls are well-placed to benefit from China’s growing urban population and rising retail sales as domestic consumption becomes the country’s new growth engine.” CRCT closed flat yesterday. WITH AGENCIES