CapitaLand Ltd.'s serviced residence business unit signed new management contracts for six serviced residences comprising more than 1,200 units in China.

The contracts allowed The Ascott Ltd. to deepen its network in Changsha, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Wuhan, as well as to extend its operations to Handan and Xuzhou. The new deals will help the unit to increase its fee income with plans to launch more than 30 properties worldwide this year.

A total of 16 properties from the targeted openings will be located in China, where Ascott already has more than 17,300 units spanning across 96 properties located in 27 cities. The six new serviced residences in China include the Ascott's largest property in China, Citadines Sunhope e-Metro Shenzhen, that is slated to open within the year.

The other properties are the Citadines Qingshan SCPG Centre Wuhan and Tujia Somerset Jundu Tianjin, which are both scheduled to open in 2018, while the Ascott Xiangjiang FFC Changsha, Citadines Yunlong Lake Xuzhou and Tujia Somerset Congtai Handan will commence operations in 2019.

Ascott CEO Chee Koon Lee said that on top of inking management contracts, the unit is also looking out to make deals for acquisitions and franchising.