appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Cao Li

China’s shop rents have slid back to 2018 levels as subdued consumer spending continues to weigh on the retail sector, with analysts expecting the pressure to persist for another one to two years.
In the second half of 2025, average rents across 100 major commercial streets in 15 key mainland cities fell to 24 yuan (US$3.50) per square metre per day — the lowest level since the second half of 2018 — according to a report published on Monday by independent real estate research firm China Index Academy.
The pace of decline accelerated compared with the first half of the year, with rents slipping 0.8 per cent for 2025 overall, a steeper fall than in 2024.
“Slower growth in catering revenue, compounded by competition from high-quality shopping malls, has put most commercial streets under pressure and pushed rents lower,” the academy said.
“I think rents will remain under pressure over the next year or two … unless the economic outlook improves,” said Raymond Cheng, an independent property analyst.
Chinese consumers have been spending cautiously and saving more amid uncertain job prospects and a prolonged property downturn that has eroded household wealth tied up in real estate.
China’s surveyed urban unemployment rate stood at 5.1 per cent in December, while the jobless rate among those aged 16 to 24 was 16.5 per cent.
The country is now in its sixth year of a property slump despite a wave of policy support aimed at stimulating home purchases, and analysts said they expected prices and sales to keep declining for another two years.
A quarterly survey by the People’s Bank of China showed only 22.5 per cent of households planned to increase spending, while 62.9 per cent said they intended to save more.

Household deposits reached 166 trillion yuan (US$24 trillion) by the end of last year – a record high and triple the level of a decade earlier.
Retail sales, a key gauge of consumer demand, rose just 0.9 per cent year on year in December, marking the slowest monthly growth in three years.
Soft demand, along with the emergence of new consumption trends, is reshaping China’s retail landscape. Electric-vehicle-related businesses and outlets based on “emotional spending”, such as plush toys, are increasingly replacing luxury stores in prime retail locations.
Shop rents have been declining since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, with many retail property projects cutting rates to boost occupancy and reduce vacancies, the China Index Academy said.
Rents across Asia-Pacific real estate remained 3.3 per cent below pre-Covid peaks, although they were “considerably up” from their pandemic-era lows, according to a report by property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL). China, where rents have remained persistently weak, stands out as the region’s main exception.
Future growth is expected to be concentrated in top-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.
In 2025, sales of commercial and office properties fell 8.6 per cent by floor area, while investment in the sector dropped 17.3 per cent to 915 billion yuan, according to the research firm.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, average office rents in major business districts across key cities nationwide stood at 4.53 yuan per square metre per day – the lowest level in at least six years, it said.
However, Yan Yuejin, deputy head of the Shanghai-based E-House China Research and Development Institute, said a recent policy change could help shore up sentiment in the commercial property market.
In January, Chinese regulators cut the minimum down payment ratio for commercial property purchases to 30 per cent from 50 per cent. If the move leads to higher transaction volumes, “it could provide a positive boost to rents”, Yan added.


Housing prices surge near new Huanggang Port as buyers eye ‘dual-city’ lifestyle

Will fresh incentives give China’s housing market more than a short-lived rebound?

Will AI adoption shrink office space? Asia-Pacific firms are on the fence in survey

China’s worsening retail slowdown bolsters case for stimulus

China property

Empty shops, falling rents: commercial property takes a hit in China retail slump

Retail therapy: Chinese consumers have been spending more cautiously and saving more amid uncertain job prospects. Photo: Xinhua

Outlets retailing forms of ‘emotional spending’, such as plush toys, are increasingly replacing luxury stores in prime retail locations. Photo: EPA

China’s Xi prioritises ‘AI-plus’ and consumer spending to counter economic headwinds

A humanoid robot is pictured, with a big AI logo on the ceiling, at the 2025 Global Industrial Internet Conference in China’s Liaoning province on September 6. Photo: Xinhua

Dior, Louis Vuitton ditch China’s malls for shopping streets to replicate Ginza’s charm

Stand-alone flagship stores with distinctive architectural facades are gradually gaining traction in China. Above, Beijing’s Taikoo Li Sanlitun North. Photo: Zhu Wenqian

Members of a Chinese tour group wait to cross a road in Tokyo’s Ginza shopping district. Photo: AFP

How China’s ‘emotional spending’ trend is transforming shopping malls

Customers look at Labubu merchandise at a Pop Mart shop in Shanghai on August 29, 2025. Photo: AFP

Customers shop at Jellycat store in Shanghai on December 4, 2024. Photo: CFOTO/Future Publishing via Getty Images

China’s property woes likely to hurt some Hong Kong banks’ 2025 earnings: Citi

Residential buildings in Beijing’s Chaoyang Park on January 6, 2026. Photo: AP Photo

Bank of China (Hong Kong)‘s earnings are likely to come under pressure from exposure to China’s commercial real estate. Photo: SCMP

Bank of East Asia’s exposure to China’s commercial real estate stood at HK$29 billion last year. Photo: May Tse

Business

News

China’s key shopping street rents have fallen to 2018 levels as cautious consumers cut spending and landlords lower prices to fill vacancies


China’s key shopping street rents have fallen to 2018 levels as cautious consumers cut spending and landlords lower prices to fill vacancies.


Empty shops, falling rents: commercial property takes a hit in China retail slump

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}China’s key shopping street rents have fallen to 2018 levels as cautious consumers cut spending and landlords lower prices to fill vacancies

China’s key shopping street rents have fallen to 2018 levels as cautious consumers cut spending and landlords lower prices to fill vacancies