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Beijing’s big, bright office future

May 19, 2017 / By

The Beijing office market has reached a key turning point in its path towards maturity. As new landmark developments in the CBD rise and redefine the skyline, domestic companies are now showing a clear lead in shaping the demand that will absorb Beijing’s next supply peak.

The market is also showing a more distinct segmentation and is about to witness the rise of a genuine decentralised office market that is separate in form and function. The demand story across the city is told through the rise of the finance sector, the upgrade trajectory of information technology firms, and in the internationalisation of China’s burgeoning global companies.

The quality of office buildings has made large strides in recent years, but as health and productivity take on new levels of urgency, landlords and occupiers are set to enjoy growing competitive advantages by stepping up standards. In our new white paper No Turning Back – Beijing’s Office Market Set to Shine, we highlight important trends for the future of the market based on our analysis of more than 200 office buildings in Beijing, identifying the quality leaps that have been made and illustrating the gaps that remain to be closed. Key insights from our report include:

  • Beijing has reached an important milestone in geographic maturity, tenant composition, and building quality.
  • The time is right to redefine submarket categorisations by expanding the set of “core” areas and defining a new, decentralised market that stands apart on its own, anchored by Lize and Tongzhou.
  • Beijing’s new wave of new supply is set to relieve pent-up demand that has accumulated during a nine-year construction down-cycle and is already being revealed by the rapid absorption of new buildings.
  • Domestic firms are clearly dominating the market and showing a sharp growth in their share of occupied space across the city, most notably in Finance Street.
  • Diversified demand will continue to support the leasing market and maintain Beijing’s resilience to industry-specific cycles.
  • New forms of financial services and the booming IT industry, supported by upgrades to higher quality space, will serve as strong drivers of future demand.
  • The “One Belt, One Road” policy is set to put domestic firms into overdrive and contribute to demand for headquarters operations in Beijing.
  • New buildings continue to raise baseline standards in the market and surpass older, obsolete buildings.
  • Beijing can achieve higher ground by drawing from world-class benchmarks of quality.

Download our report here to learn more about what lies ahead for the Beijing office market.

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