SM Prime Holdings Inc., the Philippines’ biggest mall developer and operator, is opening SM City Suzhou on Friday, its fourth shopping center in the Chinese mainland.

In a statement released on Thursday, SM Prime said the new mall has a gross floor area (GFA) of 72,552 square meters (sqm.), of which 89 percent has already been leased out to key tenants. SM Prime’s three other malls in China are SM City Xiamen, SM City Jinjiang and SM City Chengdu.

“The mall’s launching affirms SM Prime’s keen objective to continue growing and expanding in areas of opportunity, even in those beyond the boundaries of the Philippines. It also confirms that the Filipinos have the needed knowledge, skills, and talents to compete in a global arena,” SM Prime president Hans Sy said.

The city of Suzhou has a population of approximately 6.3 million and plays host to several export processing zones and industrial parks.  

“The company intends to open several more new malls in China in the coming years,” Sy said. Part of the plan includes building the group’s largest mall in Tianjin City. SM Tianjin is expected to have a GFA of 530,000 square meters and will be opened in 2013.

The company’s China malls accounted for P980 million, or 8 percent, of consolidated revenues in the six months to June. In terms of net income, operations there contributed P210 million, or 5 percent.

SM City Suzhou is the company’s second shopping center to be opened this year, after SM City Masinag in Antipolo, Rizal. This brings to 45 the total number of SM malls in the Philippines and in China, with a combined GFA of 5.7 million sq.m.

For the rest of the year, SM Prime is scheduled to open SM City San Fernando in Pampanga, SM City Olongapo in Zambales and SM Marketmall in Dasmariñas. The company is also set to expand this year SM City Davao in southern Mindanao and SM City Dasmariñas in Cavite province. 

SM Prime shares slid 4.12 percent to P11.64 each on Thursday.