Thailand-based ONYX Hospitality Group and Sincere Holdings Group, a Chinese real estate company, have announced the formation of a strategic partnership, aiming to boost the serviced apartments market across key Chinese cities.

Under this strategic partnership, Sincere Holdings Group will receive exclusivity rights from ONYX Hospitality Group to develop and open Shama serviced apartments, including those bearing the Shama Luxe and Shama Hub sub-brand names, in 12 key cities across China, namely Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Suzhou, Tianjin, Wuxi and Xiamen.

Douglas Martell (above), president and CEO, ONYX Hospitality Group said, “China is one of the world’s largest economies and a key market of growth for ONYX. We are thrilled to partner with Sincere Holdings Group, a highly respected market leader in the real estate industry, to expedite our expansion across China. This partnership brings together joint expertise from leaders in two different industries and will accelerate the growth of our Shama brand. It is a major milestone in our journey towards becoming the best medium-sized hospitality player in the Asia-Pacific region.”

“We are proud to welcome ONYX as a strategic partner of Sincere. Working with a partner of the scale and expertise of ONYX will help drive the growth of a new business segment for Sincere,” said Jerry Zhang, executive vice president of Sincere Yuanchuang Real Estate Group. “Sincere and ONYX share a common vision in addressing the quality accommodation needs of discerning professionals and leisure travellers. We look forward to capitalising on our unique strength in real estate development and ONYX’s expertise in hospitality management, and to reshape the serviced apartments market in China.”

Shama is a leading provider of premier serviced apartments. It currently has 18 serviced apartments across Asia Pacific, including ten in the development pipeline in markets such as Australia and Malaysia. Most recently, Shama was awarded “Best Serviced Apartment Operator of Asia” for the fifth time at the AHF Asia Hotel Awards.

For more information www.onyx-hospitality.com