Concerns raised over Chinese-backed project in London’s Docklands One of London mayor Boris Johnson’s biggest foreign investment projects has been…

Concerns raised over Chinese-backed project in London’s Docklands One of London mayor Boris Johnson’s biggest foreign investment projects has been called into question after the Chinese companies involved said they were in a dispute over how to split the scheme

The ￡1bn Asian Business Port project at the Royal Albert Docks in east London is the latest in a series of Chinese-backed projects to have stalled, despite prominent efforts on the part of British politicians to attract Chinese cash

News of the delay comes just days before the visit to Britain of China’s President Xi Jinping, hailed by the Chinese foreign ministry as kicking off a “golden era” of Sino-British relations and by the British side as an opportunity to promote Chinese investment in Britain

The scheme is supposed to be one of Mr Johnson’s biggest legacies as mayor of London, a post he is due to vacate next spring. Another project to which he lent his support, a plan to develop a replica Crystal Palace in south London, fell by the wayside after the local council pulled out of negotiations with aspiring developer Zhongrong Group

China Minsheng Investment, one of the country’s largest investment funds, said on Tuesday that it had not reached an agreement on an equity split for the Asian Business Port project with Xu Weiping, founder of developer ABP. Minsheng said in February that it had taken over the project and planned to invest ￡1bn

“It is unfortunate that a formal contract has not been reached,” Minsheng Investment said in a statement sent to the Financial Times, adding that “ideal conditions regarding the equity ratio” had not been met

The Greater London Authority still owns the site and has named ABP as its preferred developer. But if ABP fails to close a funding deal in the coming months, the GLA could decide to offer the project to another company

The Docklands project is the third large Chinese investment proposal in British property to come into question, after the Crystal Palace idea fell through and Peel Group shelved plans for a ￡175m “International Trade Center” near Liverpool

The site was supposed to serve as a base for 1,000 Chinese companies interested in exhibiting and selling goods into Europe. In late 2013, the Financial Times reported that Stella Shiu, the Chinese businesswomen being introduced as the wealthy investor in Peel Group’s plans, had very few traceable business assets in China

Neil Robinson, London-based spokesman for the Docklands project, said on Wednesday that ABP remained the lead developer and had secured a ￡40m investment commitment from property company Strawberry Star earlier this year

The project involves the conversion of the docks, east of the very successful Canary Wharf development, into a mixture of offices and homes in partnership with the British property developer Stanhope

A person familiar with the situation said the site was “difficult to build on, and that makes it hard to attract investors”

In its statement, Minsheng said: “We believe that the project has great prospect for development. Both sides still hope to strive to explore and finally arrive at a satisfactory innovative model, so that Chinese private enterprises can go out and play our small part in contributing to Sino-British economic co-operation.”

Mr Robinson said the negotiations with Minsheng were continuing. “I can say with 100 per cent confidence that Minsheng is not pulling out?.?.?.?We are in active discussions with them. We are also about to announce an exciting new deal that is really a game changer for China-UK relations.”

ABP has developed a business and residential project in southwestern Beijing along with three other office park projects in other Chinese cities