BEIJING--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™), China Life Insurance (Group) Company, and Chinese real estate developer Sino-Ocean Group jointly announced the topping off of the Z13 office tower, China Life Financial Center, in the Core Area of Beijing Central Business District (CBD).
China Life Financial Center is one of fifteen iconic towers in which the Chinese government has dedicated the country’s most prominent commercial land to showcase the CBD Core Area as a global center for financial and service industries. It will be home to the headquarters of top Fortune 500 companies and an international hub for business and cultural exchange. China Life Financial Center is positioned to be China’s first center for financial asset management firms, an industry which it is targeting exclusively for premium tenants. China Life Asset Management Company and China Life Investment Holding Company, both subsidiaries of China Life, have both pledged to have offices in the building.
China Life Financial Center tower is currently registered to pursue WELL Core & Shell Certification through the WELL Building Standard™ (WELL). The WELL Building Standard is the first building standard to focus on enhancing people’s health and well-being through the built environment. Administered by IWBI and third-party certified through Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), WELL is an evidence and performance-based system for measuring, certifying and monitoring features that impact human health and well-being in the built environment. The project has already achieved LEED Gold certification.
The Z13 Project, jointly developed by China Life and Sino-Ocean Group, is a 44-story office tower with a total of 1,746,983 square feet of space, including five underground floors. It is located on the east side of the 30-hectare Core Area of Beijing CBD. Renowned for being China’s one and only commercial high-rise cluster of iconic buildings through centralized planning, the Core Area serves as Beijing’s first mega development integrating commercial and public spaces through centrally coordinated planning. The 5.6 million square foot underground space dedicated for public use is themed with green space and designed to be a healthy, enjoyable environment.
“Infused with cutting edge technologies and programs, China Life Financial Center provides building occupants with special care for their health, wellness and humanity,” said Mingsheng Yang, Chairman of China Life. “Z13 is the first Class A office tower in the Core Area of Beijing CBD, and a classic masterpiece as the result of investment in the real estate industry by an insurance company.” He said China Life will take the lead to move into the tower to experience the health and wellness features, as well as all the modern design and comfort features the building incorporates. Other world-class financial institutions will also take space in the tower. “It will be an all new office space experience with much value added,” he said.
China Life has made a significant investment to increase the wellness features throughout the building’s design. Internationally renowned architecture firm SOM and landscaping company SWA are part of the project team. Key wellness features include a 32.8-foot-high lobby ceiling, a mechanically ventilated double façade curtain wall to ensure air quality and thermal comfort, and extraordinary biophilic features to bring natural elements indoors.
“With Z13, China Life focuses on building occupants’ health and pursues the internationally renowned WELL Building Standard to provide wellness-centric office space,” said Ming Li, CEO and Chairman of Sino-Ocean Group. “Z13 demonstrates Sino-Ocean’s ‘Build-Healthy’ development strategy adopted by our shareholders, and aims to become the first WELL Certified office tower in China,” he said. Sino-Ocean Group is one of the first developers to adopt the WELL Building Standard in China. Its flagship project, Tianjiao Garden in Guangzhou, was the first multi-family high-rise development in China to register for WELL Certification.
“We are excited to welcome China Life into our WELL building community,” said Paul Scialla, founder of the International WELL Building Institute. “This commitment to WELL from one of the world’s largest life insurance companies is a demonstration of an investment in longevity through enhancements to our built environment. The WELL Building Standard in China is expanding rapidly largely because of visionary developers and decision makers such as Mr. Yang of China Life and Mr. Li of Sino-Ocean Group, who understand the health benefits that a WELL Certified space can offer. IWBI is dedicated to working with all Chinese developers in their pursuit of WELL Certification.”
“As the world’s number one construction investment company, China State Construction Engineering is honored to work with China Life and Sino-Ocean to build this landmark building and set the new threshold for the advancement of green buildings and WELL buildings in China,” said Qing Guan, Chairman of China State Construction Engineering.
“Z13 is establishing a new trend for healthy office buildings,” said Hao Wang, Chaoyang District Chief of Beijing Government. “As an important component of Beijing CBD planning, Z13 and the new standards it sets will have a positive impact on the entire area development,” Wang said.
The event was attended by Guiying Wu, Party Secretary of Chaoyang District Beijing; Hao Wang, Chaoyang District Government Chief; IWBI Founder Paul Scialla; Mingsheng Yang, Chairman of China Life; Ming Li, CEO and Chairman of Sino-Ocean Group; Qing Guan, Chairman of China State Construction Engineering; Junhui Wang, President of China Life Investment Holding; Sidong Wang, Vice President of China Life; Runfu Chen, Senior Vice President of Sino-Ocean Group; Haicheng Wen and Hu Li, both as Vice President of Sino-Ocean Group; and Quansheng Xu, Manager of BIAD.
About the International WELL Building Institute™
The International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) is a public benefit corporation whose mission is to improve human health and well-being through the built environment. Public benefit corporations like IWBI are an emerging U.S. structure for corporations committed to balancing public benefits with profitability – harnessing the power of private capital for greater good. IWBI administers the WELL Building Standard (WELL) – a performance-based system for measuring, certifying, and monitoring features of buildings that impact the health and well-being of the people who live, work, and learn in them. Fulfilling the vision of IWBI Founder Paul Scialla, IWBI has a pioneering altruistic capitalism model that will address social responsibility and demonstrate a sustainable model for philanthropy. IWBI has committed to direct 51 percent of net profits, after taxes, generated by registration fees, certification fees, and recertification fees received from real estate projects applying for WELL Certification toward charitable contributions and impact investment focused on health, wellness, and the built environment. IWBI was established by Delos in 2013 pursuant to a Clinton Global Initiative commitment to improve the way people live by developing spaces that enhance occupant health and quality of life by sharing the WELL Building Standard globally. WELLcertified.com
About China Life Insurance Company
China Life Insurance (Group) Company and its subsidiaries (hereinafter referred to as China Life) constitute the largest commercial insurance group in Mainland China. It is the only state-owned insurance group with an asset exceeding 1 trillion RMB yuan. It is also one of the largest institutional investors in China's capital market. China Life Insurance (Group) Company, headquartered in Beijing, is a large state-owned financial and insurance company.
About Sino-Ocean Group (3377.HK)
Sino-Ocean Group, as one of the leading real estate developers in China’s major economic regions, has already completed the national strategic arrangement of “along the coast and the river”. Our main business consists of Residential Development, Real Estate Development Investment, Customer Service and Real Estate Finance, which we call “Four Business Pattern”. We focus on middle and high-end residential projects, high-end office buildings and commercial real estate, and we already have more than 60 projects in different stages in 19 rapid developed cities in China. Sino-Ocean Group has already set up the “Sino-Ocean” brand awareness in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, northeast China, Central China and South China by the consistent high quality projects and service. At the same time, we keep on expanding customer service, and real estate finance, which in order to aim the strategic goal of compound drive of “Industrial Operation” and “Capital Operation”. Want to know more, please visit: www.sinooceangroup.com.
About China State Construction Engineering
China Construction is China’s largest construction and real estate conglomerate and biggest building work contractor. It is the largest transnational construction company in the developing countries and the top home builder in the world, taking the long lead of China’s international contracting business. China Construction is well known in the world for undertaking super high-rise, grand scale, cutting-edge and novel projects and has built up a great number of landmark projects in China and around the world. Such business concept and brand image of China Construction as “Providing Excellent Services across all Continents with Superior Quality as the Top Priority” is universally acknowledged and commended.
