The hotel will be managed by Carlson Hotels Asia Pacific. The216-room Park Plaza Wangfujing Beijing will be located in Beijing'scommercial center and will offer a business center, six meetingrooms and a boardroom. The development will also include a 499-roomRegent luxury hotel.

The Beijing hotel is the first of some 15 Park Plaza HotelsCarlson hopes to open in China over the next 10 years, says PaulKirwin, president and managing director of Carlson Hotels AsiaPacific, based in Singapore. Park Plaza Hotels & Resorts ispositioned in the mid-scale segment of the full-service hotelcategory with hotels of 125 rooms or more located in downtown,suburban and airport commercial locations.

Carlson Hospitality Worldwide has more than 1,685 hotels,resort, restaurant and cruise ship operations in 82 countries. FuWah International Group, a property development company in China,Hong Kong and Australia, has developed a number of landmarkbuildings in Beijing, including the China Red Sandalwood Museum,Beijing Chang An Club, Beijing Lee Garden Serviced Apartments andBeijing Fu Wah Residence.