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Business hots up for Chinese park sector
By Liu Jie (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-07-25 11:00  The business park sector in China is still in its infancy with a development history of little more than 10 years, yet the sector is now firmly poised for lift-off as the property market responds to the increasing requirements for high-quality decentralized business space, says a new report. International property consulting and management firm Jones Lang LaSalle conducted in-depth research into the sector recently and issued a report to review the future drivers of growth, identify the likely business park hot spots and assess how the development and investment landscape is likely to evolve over the next few years. According to the report, today's business parks are generally characterized by location at suburban areas and a broad mix of building types, which continue to be built in response to very different user requirements - from lower-specification semi-industrial units to high-quality headquarters office spaces that compete with the central business district (CBD) markets in terms of their quality and working environment. China's emerging business park sector offers robust demand fundamentals. Strengthening occupiers' demand for high-quality business park space in China is being underpinned by the expansion of research and development (R&D) activities of hi-tech and pharmaceuticals firms seeking high-specification space, by the rapid growth in business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, and by large multinationals' need for campus-style space outside higher-cost CBD locations. Demand is being further boosted by the government's strategy of moving the Chinese economy up the value chain and its policy of mapping out R&D and BPO clusters across the country. The real estate development market is now responding to the increasing demand for high-specification and low-cost space with larger floor space in decentralized locations. "The stock of business park space in China, which is estimated to stand currently at about 17 million sq m, is expected to more than double to around 38 million sq m by 2010. Over 60 percent of the current stock is located in the four cities of Shanghai, Beijing, Dalian and Guangzhou," said Jileen Loo, head of business park sector for Jones Lang LaSalle China. A number of other cities such as Chengdu, Suzhou, Xi'an and Tianjin are expected to witness a sharp increase in business park activity over the next few years. Jones Lang LaSalle's research has identified 15 business park hot spots across China, which it believes will be the focus of future business park activity over the next decade. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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