Property developer China Vanke Co denied on Tuesday that it would buy back residential properties it had built that were damaged in the deadly explosions in Tianjin. [Special coverage]
Vanke has decided to compensate property owners at its Harbor City project, which was seriously damaged by the explosions in the Binhai New Area on August 12, including buying back their units, news website szhgh.com reported Monday, citing property owners.
Chen Ying, a public relations manager with Vanke, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the report is not true.
"We are not responsible for the explosions, and Vanke also incurred losses in the explosions," she said.
The website clarified its report on Tuesday, saying Vanke has neither made any official announcement nor verbally promised property owners that it would buy back their apartments.
Vanke said it will cooperate with local authorities to evaluate the explosions' economic impact on its projects, according to its interim financial report released Monday. The report showed the planned total investment in the Harbor City project at 607 million yuan ($95 million).
Several Vanke projects in the Binhai New Area were affected by the explosions, with two of them being cut off from water and gas supplies, Wang Shi, chairman of Vanke, said on his Weibo account on Thursday.
Vanke is not the only company affected by the explosions. Chinese media have reported that more than 8,000 vehicles were destroyed by the disaster.
The insured losses from the explosions "are likely to be material for Chinese insurance companies, potentially exceeding $1 billion to $1.5 billion," Fitch Ratings said in a report sent to the Global Times on Tuesday.
