China Research

"The government and landlords are working to enhance the office tenant experience, strengthen tenant retention, and support corporate growth. They are also assisting enterprises with overseas expansion, legal consultation, digital transformation, and the streamlining of approval processes."

"Hangzhou authorities continue to support emerging businesses with subsidies for advanced industries, cultural export promotion, and platform oversight."

"Shanghai’s retail scene is undergoing a quiet transformation. Rather than pursuing endless expansion, major brands are consolidating into flagship locations that can better express identity and experience. These core sites are becoming stages for brand reinvention and storytelling."

"Shenzhen’s office leasing market logged a sound increase in the volume of site visits and inquiries on project availability and pricing during Q3/2025 and we expect that the momentum will lead to a significant increase in transaction volume in Q4/2025."

"During Q3/2025, with rental decline remaining, market take-up increased compared to last quarter. On the demand side, the service sector continued to expand steadily. Co-working space providers’ performance varied."

"Despite the challenges of increasing vacancies and rental adjustments, new retail projects along with the existing stock upgrade promoted the ongoing retail supply structure optimization, which lays a solid foundation for the market’s quality improvement in the future."

"Guangzhou in Q4/2025 will hold China’s 15th National Games, which is expected to draw a significant amount of visitors, benefiting many retail sectors and their sales revenues in the city."

"The current cycle is testing investors’ discipline and ingenuity. Value is no longer about timing the market but about transforming assets and capturing long-term relevance."

"Chengdu government has proposed Debut Economy as a development strategy, building a full ecosystem with measures including introducing various high-level first stores and hosting brand launch events. In Q3/2025, sports brands’ leasing demand remained stable and was the major category for brands first set foot in the Chengdu retail market."

"In Q3/2025, leasing demand in the Beijing Grade A office market continued to bounce back. The absence of new projects and increasing demand dragged down the overall vacancy rate and narrowed the decline in rents. The market is still in the destocking period, however, supply in the coming years will undoubtedly put more pressure on the market. As a result, landlords need to optimise their leasing strategies, while tenants can also select optimal locations underpinned by the current opportunities."