Singapore's CapitaMalls Asia seeks secondary listing in Hong Kong

• Seeks secondary listing to complement China growth strategy
• Comes as many Singapore-based companies seeking dual-listings in Hong Kong, Taiwan

SINGAPORE, March 28 (Reuters) - Singapore-based shopping mall developer CapitaMalls Asia said it is seeking a secondary listing in Hong Kong to bolster its expansion plans in China.

The company, a unit of property developer CapitaLand , has submitted an application to the Hong Kong stock exchange, it said.

CapitaMalls said it has sufficient resources to fund its expansion and has no immediate need to raise equity, but the listing would allow it greater flexibility to manage its capital.

The move comes as many Singapore-listed companies, such as Yangzijiang Shipbuilding , have been seeking to list in Hong Kong or Taiwan in a bid to seek higher valuations and widen their investor base. [ID:nL3E7CH0DH]

China's strong economic growth, along with its investments to strengthen its railway infrastructure and public transport systems, is expected to help boost the retail industry and demand for shopping mall space.

"Given the growing importance of its China business going forward, the proposed secondary listing will complement CapitaMalls Asia's expansion in the country," the company said in a statement.

China accounts for about 37 percent of CapitaMalls' total property portfolio by property value and 70 percent by gross floor area. It owns 53 malls across 34 cities in China, the company said.

"With its increasing disposable income and urbanisation, we remain confident that China will continue to experience strong retail sales growth," Liew Mun Leong, Chairman of CapitaMalls Asia said in a statement.

China International Capital Corporation Hong Kong Securities and J.P. Morgan are the joint sponsors of the proposed secondary listing.

Shares of CapitaMalls, which owns S$23.7 billion worth of assets in Singapore, China, Malaysia, Japan and India, are down about 9 percent since the start of the year.

The shares, however, gained almost 3 percent on Friday on market talk of a secondary listing.

The company requested for trading in its shares to be halted earlier on Monday. (Reporting by Charmian Kok; Editing by Saeed Azhar and Dhara Ranasinghe)