Vantone Responds

The director of the proposed China Center at 7 World Trade Center says Beijing Vantone never agreed to Larry Silverstein's deadlines. Full statement, put out by the Partnership for New York City, which helped bring the deal together in the first place, after the jump.

-Matthew Schuerman

Statement by Beijing Vantone on Negotiations with Silverstein Properties Xue Ya, Executive Director of China Center Project

"Silverstein Properties unilaterally imposed deadlines to which we never agreed. We jointly signed a lease on June 30, subject only to a letter of credit. Our bank in China has had only one week to review the lease and we anticipate they will issue the letter of credit promptly.

"We continue to believe that locating China Center in the heart of Lower Manhattan is in the best interest of all parties involved and plan to fulfill our obligation under the letter of intent we signed with Silverstein Properties in January.

"We hope that the negative publicity generated by Silverstein today will not interfere with our abilities to secure our financing."

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