Longfor Group Holding Ltd, one of the major property developers in China, opened 15 malls last year with no offshore debt due in 2023, the Hong Kong-listed company said during its online 2022 annual performance conference.

Longfor Group's Chief Financial Officer Zhao Yi shared that 15 shopping malls were opened as scheduled throughout 2022. By the end of 2022, a total of 76 shopping malls were in operation. Up to the present, the group has sufficient mall reserves, with 139 shopping malls in hand across 32 cities nationwide.

Longfor Guanyu, the group's long-term rental apartment brand, had already released 116,000 apartments by the end of last year, and 91.1 percent of the apartments that had been available for more than six months were rented.

Longfor Intelligent Live, an advanced technology property management and commercial operation living service provider of Longfor Group, had more than 320 million square meters of managed area by the end of last year, with a gross profit margin of more than 34 percent.

Zhao mentioned that, in the volatile market environment, the group has been maintaining a low leverage ratio and stable cash flows. Meanwhile, the group lays out its debt repayment plan in advance, with no offshore debt due in 2023. The group's average borrowing percentage cost by the end of the period was 4.1 percent, with the declining average debt account period of 6.67 years.

The group has reduced its foreign debt ratio by 5 percent to 23 percent and, to hedge related foreign exchange risks, it has entered foreign exchange swaps for 98 percent of its foreign debts to ensure the group's safe sailing through business cycles.