Mainland China, Hong Kong premium office supply to peak as demand lags, Cushman says

Beijing is among top cities in Greater China expected to see some of the biggest stock of new office supply in the coming years, Cushman & Wakefield says.

Photo: Getty Images Prime office supply in mainland Chinese cities and Hong Kong is estimated to peak this year, while demand remains hampered by an economic slowdown and global uncertainties, according to Cushman & Wakefield.

At the end of 2025, premium office inventory in 21 major cities in Greater China – including Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, as well as Taiwan – amounted to 99.2 million square metres (1.07 billion sq ft), up 4.6 million square metres or 8.4 per cent from a year earlier, the property consultancy said in a report on Wednesday.

Demand failed to keep pace, with total office net absorption rising only 2.3 million square metres, pushing overall vacancy rates across the region up by 1 percentage point to 25.4 per cent over the period, it added.

Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen recorded some of the largest numbers of multinational firms leasing prime office space in 2025, accounting for about one-fifth to more than half of the total deals.

Prime office rents declined between 3.9 per cent and 16 per cent in 2025 in gateway markets, with Beijing seeing the largest retreat, the report showed.

An aerial view of Guangzhou.

Photo: Shutterstock “Large-scale future supply, combined with global uncertainties and structural pressures on the domestic economy, will further exacerbate broad-based market headwinds,” said Xiaoduan Zhang, head of research for south and central China at Cushman. “But accelerated development of new quality productive forces and ongoing supportive policies will drive gradual leasing demand growth in relevant sectors.” Given these conditions, rents in cities like Beijing were expected to bottom out, while landlords in Shanghai and Shenzhen were likely to adopt more proactive leasing strategies, the report said.

In Hong Kong, rents were likely to move within a narrow range of minus or plus 1 per cent throughout the year.

On a per city basis, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Beijing and Guangzhou would see some of the biggest stock of new office supply in the coming years, ranging between 134,000 square metres and 4 million square metres, the report said. “[This year] accelerated development of new quality productive forces and ongoing supportive policies, net absorption is expected to recover gradually,” the report said. “However, given global unc

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