Ascendas, one of Asia's largest developers of business properties, said yesterday it has clinched a deal with a local partner to develop a $458 million IT park in Hangzhou, which will be its single largest investment in China.

Ascendas will develop the IT park with Hangzhou Economic Development Area General North Co, the developer of the Hangzhou Economic Development Area (HEDA), where the park will be located.

The Singaporean real estate developer will own 80 percent of the Singapore-Hangzhou Science and Technology Park, according to an agreement signed between two sides.

The park, which will cover about 43 hectares and have some 752,250 square meters of developed property when completely built, will position itself as a hub for service industries including business process outsourcing (BPO) and information technology outsourcing, as well as for research and development activities.

The Hangzhou facility will be the fourth IT park and the largest in terms of investment that Ascendas has developed in the country, according to Tay Eng Kiat, Ascendas China CEO.

Its other projects are in Xi'an, Dalian and Nanjing, all of which are major BPO bases in China.

Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, is one of the 11 cities designated by the Ministry of Commerce as BPO hubs in the country.

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"We will bring to Hangzhou our successful IT park experience from India, where we have helped to propel the growth of Bangalore as the cradle of India's BPO industry," said Chong Siak Ching, president and CEO of Ascendas.

Ascendas now has seven IT parks in five Indian cities, Chong said, where a total of more than 40,000 IT professionals work.

The company is planning to triple the investment it has made in China since 1995 over the next five years to a total of $1.64 billion, Chong told China Daily earlier this year.

The developer, which has assets worth $3.3 billion under its management, now has a presence in 10 cities in China, including Beijing, Shanghai and Suzhou.

HEDA, approved by the State Council and established in 1993, is one of 11 national-level software parks in China.

Hangzhou Economic Development Area General North Co, with registered capital of 160 million yuan, mainly focuses on infrastructure construction and management at HEDA.

Its subsidiary Hangxin Investment Co Ltd is responsible for the initial development of the first phase of the park.

Ascendas will manage the Hangzhou park over a range of responsibilities, including project management, marketing, leasing, advertising and corporate services.

When completed, the park will be able to house a working population of 30,000 to 50,000 people.