SM Prime Holdings, Inc. (SMPH) of the Sy family will end the year with a major boost on its mall portfolio as it sets to open its seventh mall within the world’s second largest economy on December 17.

SMPH president Jeffrey Lim said the company is scheduled to do a soft opening of Tianjin Mall in China, one of the world’s largest malls, on the third week of December.

SM Tianjin is considered one of the largest malls in the world for having gross floor area (GFA) of 540,000 square meters, which could be the size of three big football stadiums combined.

The portion that will open next month would have a size of 150,000 square meters, which is equivalent to a mall of regular size here.

As of now, Lim said the mall is 60 percent leased out.

Tianjin mall would have three floors that can accommodate more than a thousand stores.

It was in 2012 when the company began the construction of the said mall.

As of now, SMPH is scouting for mall acquisition opportunities in Fujian province.

“As of now, we are looking at properties [to acquire] in Fujian area in China,” Lim told reporters on the sidelines of SEC-PSE Corporate Governance Forum held in Pasay.

The first mall that SMPH built in China is also located in Fujian, which is SM City Xiamen.

Aside from Xiamen, SMPH has malls in Jinjiang, Chengdu, Suzhou, Chongqing and Zibo, all covering total GFA of over 900,000 square meters.

Here in the Philippines, the listed real estate giant is scheduled to open two more malls before the end to the year, on top of its 58 existing shopping centers across the country.

By end of 2017, SM Prime must have 67 malls nationwide.