CAPITALAND Development (CLD) has partnered Mitsubishi Estate, one of Japan's largest real estate groups, to invest 1.5 billion yuan (S$318.2 million) to develop a business park in China's Suzhou New District.

The development arm of CapitaLand takes a 50 per cent share in the joint venture (JV) for the project, which will start construction next year and is expected to complete in 2024.

Announcing these in a joint press statement on Thursday (Dec 30), CLD said it will undertake the master planning and development of the business park, while the operations will be managed by CapitaLand Investment.

Suzhou New District is the second largest national development zone in Suzhou, a city west of Shanghai. To date, it has attracted close to 1,800 foreign enterprises and more than 100 research institutes, and is home to about 1,000 national high-tech new economy enterprises.

According to Hirase Takehiro, chairman and president of Mitsubishi Estate (Shanghai), the district is often referred to as "Japanese Highland" with over 600 renowned Japanese enterprises.

The business park to be built will sit on a 5 hectare plot of land within the Central Business District of the new district, and will have a total construction area of over 220,000 square metres.

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CLD noted that it will feature multi-tenanted buildings with provisions for research and development activities as well as community and lifestyle amenities.

The park will also cater to demand from tenants in high-tech new economy sectors such as new-generation information and communication technologies, smart manufacturing and artificial intelligence, as well as biomedical sciences, it said.

CLD, meanwhile, pointed out that the park will adopt a "Singapore-style garden city design concept", meant to promote collaboration among companies, research institutions, government agencies and talents amid a "green and sustainable" environment.

This will involve incorporating green technologies such as photovoltaic solar panels, ecological drainage systems, rainwater harvesting and energy-efficient infrastructure.

Tan Tze Shang, chief executive officer of CLD (China), said the project will leverage CapitaLand's "extensive track record" in creating vibrant communities with an optimal mix of live-work-play spaces.

It will also let the group, which has over 2 decades of experience in Suzhou, further tap into the "promising" growth prospects of Yangtze River Delta and support its pivot to new economy assets, he added.

This is not the first time CLD has partnered Mitsubishi Estate. The parties had collaborated on the recently completed Singapore-Hangzhou Science & Technology Park Phase 3 in the Hangzhou economic and technological development area.