A COMPANY controlled by China’s richest man is on the cusp of inking a deal to become the master developer of Bandar Malaysia, a huge tract of valuable land in the centre of Kuala Lumpur.

The Straits Times reports today that negotiations between the Dalian Wanda Group, owned by Wang Jianlin, and the Malaysian government have reached advanced stages, and is only awaiting the approval of Chinese authorities as the investment would involve large outflow of capital.

If Wanda’s plan is approved by the Chinese authorities, Prime Minister Najib Razak hopes to sign an agreement with the Chinese company this weekend when he is in Beijing to attend the Belt and Road Forum.

But The Malaysian Insight has learnt that there are a couple of hitches that need to be overcome before the Wanda deal can be signed.

Chief among them is the refusal by Iskandar Waterfront Holdings and China Railway Engineering Corp to accept the Najib administration’s decision to cancel its deal to buy 60% of Bandar Malaysia for RM7.42 billion and work as its master developer.

The Bandar Malaysia project is owned by 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) and the share sale agreement with IWH-CREC was part of deal to reduce 1MDB’s debts.

The Malaysian government cancelled the deal, saying that the consortium failed to fulfil financial obligations. 

But the ‎consortium has refused to back down. It issued a statement challenging the Malaysian government’s version of events and is understood to be seeking the intervention of friends in Kuala Lumpur and Beijing‎ to get their deal back on the table.

Still, Putrajaya is confident that the Chinese government will issue the necessary approvals for the Dalian Wanda group to become the master developer of Bandar Malaysia.

The Straits Times reported that Wanda has proposed to use half of Bandar Malaysia for tourism and entertainment-related ventures valued at US$8 billion.

Wanda is the owner of the world’s largest cinema chain, along with theme parks, football clubs and hotels. – May 9, 2017.