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The real estate market in China remains sluggish, yet companies in emerging industries are increasingly active in purchasing commercial properties, either by acquiring land or by buying existing buildings to develop their own projects.
Recently, a prime commercial site in Haitang Bay, Sanya, Hainan Province—located near numerous luxury resort hotels—sold for over CNY680 million (approximately USD94.6 million) to an esports company managing gaming clubs and related ventures. This company plans to invest around CNY1.4 billion (about USD194.7 million) to develop a mixed-use complex that combines sports, cultural, and tourism amenities.
Meanwhile, a leading livestream e-commerce company secured a nearby parcel at the end of 2024 for more than CNY600 million (roughly USD83.5 million). The firm aims to establish an international livestreaming hub, a global business operations center, and an internet influencer park on the site.
Last month, a major e-commerce retailer purchased land in Hangzhou for CNY663 million (around USD92.2 million). The company intends to build a regional headquarters alongside a retail center focused on appliances and home furnishings.
In addition to land acquisitions, some emerging tech firms opt to buy existing buildings directly. For instance, Zhipu AI, recognized as one of the world’s first prominent AI developers to go public in Hong Kong, spent over CNY360 million (roughly USD51 million) last month on the Diamond Mansion in Beijing’s Zhongguancun Software Park—a hub known for housing leading tech enterprises.
According to Zhang Xiaoduan, deputy research dean at a real estate services firm, industries like livestream e-commerce and artificial intelligence are among China’s fastest-growing sectors. Their rapid expansion has made their stocks highly attractive to the capital markets, providing these companies with the financial resources to buy land, develop new facilities, or acquire existing buildings.
Zhang also noted that these companies often have special space needs. For example, large AI firms require high-density computing infrastructure, which is easier to arrange through bespoke renovations of entire buildings or by developing new sites from the ground up to meet operational demands.
Ai Zhenqiang, chief researcher at Mingyuan Real Estate Research Institute, observed that property prices for office spaces in leading cities have declined by 30 to 40 percent from their peak. This decline enables emerging-sector firms to turn their cash flow into high-quality real estate assets, boosting their valuation and financing options while improving resilience against economic fluctuations.
Additionally, Zhang mentioned that owning core real estate assets allows companies to diversify their financing channels and attract similar or related enterprises nearby, helping to foster a robust industrial ecosystem.
Since these industries are still expanding, Zhang predicts that demand for land transactions and property leases from emerging companies is likely to continue growing.
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