GRA Market Weekly (2026-04-25)

Macro Policy

Central government: 15 ministries jointly issue youth apartment and youth-development city deployment with 18 measures

On 22 April, 15 departments including the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Cyberspace Administration of China and the National Development and Reform Commission jointly issued the Opinions on Deepening the Development of Youth-Friendly Cities to Support Building Modern People's Cities. Anchored on the two-way integration of high-quality urban development and high-quality youth development, the document systematically sets out 18 specific measures across six dimensions, providing a comprehensive deployment for youth-development city construction in the new era:

Focusing on the central work agenda
Unleashing young people's innovative energy
Improving liveability for young people
Leading green and low-carbon development
Cultivating the cultural character of cities
Guiding young people's participation in grassroots governance

Urban planning is to take on a stronger youth orientation: youth development is to be incorporated into municipal territorial spatial planning, localities are to be guided in incorporating youth-related indicators into urban health checks, and youth-friendly spaces are to be created in urban renewal as local conditions allow. The document also calls for exploring planning-indicator support - such as additional GFA and plot ratio - for projects that add youth-friendly public service functions.

Targeted Policies

Wuhan: second batch of urban renewal policies allows idle office and retail buildings to convert to rental housing

On 23 April, Wuhan held a meeting to advance urban renewal work. To sustain reform, innovation and policy support around its "five renovations, four improvements" urban renewal agenda, Wuhan issued Several Policy Measures Supporting Urban Renewal (Second Batch), introducing new steps on revitalising existing stock, mixed use and faster approvals. The measures support the conversion of existing non-residential buildings into rental housing, giving full play to market mechanisms and guiding market participants to convert eligible completed but idle and low-efficiency retail and office premises and hotel stock into rental housing.

In addition, to promote industrial upgrading, the measures encourage districts to set differentiated policies on the qualification standards and strata-transfer ratios for "industry-on-floors" projects, and to implement exemptions and reductions of urban infrastructure levies, with such projects to be qualified and approved at district level.

Zhuhai: new property market measures raise maximum provident fund loans to RMB 1 m for single and RMB 1.5 m for dual contributors

On 20 April, the Zhuhai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, together with five other departments including the municipal natural resources bureau, finance bureau, tax authority and provident fund centre, formally issued document Zhujian [2026] No. 57 optimising property market policy. The measures took effect on the date of release for a three-year term, further refining market management, stabilising expectations and meeting residents' first-time and upgrader housing needs.

The new measures set out several buyer-friendly steps:

The housing "trade-in" subsidy period is extended, with the policy running to 31 December 2026; eligible buyers may claim a subsidy of 1% of the registered new home price, capped at RMB 30,000 per unit
Deed tax assessment rules are adjusted so that the count of homes owned by local households excludes properties in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, meaningfully lowering buyers' tax burden
Provident fund policy is substantially upgraded, with maximum loans for single- and dual-contributor households raised to RMB 1 m and RMB 1.5 m respectively
Differentiated support is strengthened: multi-child households buying a second home, and purchases of star-rated green buildings and prefabricated housing, qualify for a loan quota uplift of up to 30%, precisely supporting green and low-carbon housing

Beijing: first case of partial confiscation and disposal within a building on state-owned construction land, covering c. 18,000 sqm of illegal construction

On 23 April, per Beijing Planning and Natural Resources, the confiscated building space at the research and development centre project on plots E6 and E7 in the West Zone of Zhongguancun Electronics City successfully reached the public listing stage, supported throughout by the "Chaoyang Forward Service" mechanism of the Chaoyang Branch of the Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources. The project involved c. 18,000 sqm of illegal construction added without authorisation, scattered across different floors of both the main tower and the podium, presenting the twin challenges of no precedent to follow and operational complexity.

This is Beijing's first case in which partial confiscation within a building on state-owned construction land has been implemented and the disposal process completed, successfully unblocking multiple obstacles including dispersed illegal areas, complex ownership relationships and the absence of precedent. By forming a cross-departmental task force, the Chaoyang Branch introduced innovative service measures such as chained coordination and full-area monitoring, lawfully removing the project's illegal status while protecting the legitimate rights of already-sold and already-leased space - producing a replicable "Chaoyang solution" for similar distressed asset disposals citywide.

Market Watch

Shanghai: third residential land batch raises RMB 7.209 bn, with the Xuhui Changqiao plot at a 25% premium

On 21 April, per the Shanghai Land Market website, the city's third batch of residential land for 2026 went to auction, offering three residential-use plots with a combined site area of c. 101,200 sqm and a combined starting price of c. RMB 6.549 bn.

The Changqiao precinct plot in Xuhui District drew nine bidding groups on the floor and, after 82 rounds, went to China Merchants Shekou for RMB 3.3 bn, at an accommodation value of RMB 87,150/sqm and a 25% premium
The Shiquan Sub-district plot in Putuo District went to a consortium of China Construction Eighth Engineering Bureau and China Merchants Shekou for RMB 3.029 bn, at an accommodation value of RMB 62,077/sqm
The core-area plot in Jinshan New Town went to Jinshan Binhai Group for RMB 879.55 m, at an accommodation value of RMB 13,810/sqm

Suzhou: Wujiang East Taihu Lake residential plot sells for RMB 1.066 bn at an accommodation value of c. RMB 13,500/sqm

On 22 April, Suzhou successfully sold residential plot WJ-J-2026-002 in the Wujiang East Taihu Lake Resort to Wujiang Xinwucheng Capital Management, a unit of Wujiang Urban Investment, for c. RMB 1.066 bn at an accommodation value of c. RMB 13,500/sqm.

With a plot ratio of just 1.2, the site is planned as a low-density upgrader community led by villa-type products. It sits south of Jiangcun Road and west of Qiufeng Street in Taihu New Town, with mature amenities: a large Sam's Club under construction immediately to the south and Suzhou Ninth People's Hospital adjacent to the east, plus quality education, healthcare and sports and cultural facilities nearby including East Taihu Experimental Primary School, Suzhou Bay Foreign Language School and Suzhou Bay Sports Centre - giving the site strong overall liveability.

Beijing: China Construction Zhidi takes a Yizhuang New Town residential plot for RMB 1.324 bn at an 8.70% premium

On 21 April, Beijing held its second residential land auction of the month, offering plot 1401-1 in block YZ00-0802 of Yizhuang New Town, Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area. Zoned Class II residential (R2) under reference Jingtuchuguo (Kai) [2026] No. 011 for urban residential use, the plot covers 25,908.19 sqm with planned GFA of 51,816.38 sqm, a plot ratio of 2, a height cap of 60 m, a starting price of RMB 1.218 bn and a starting accommodation value of RMB 23,506/sqm.

Five developers bid on the floor - China Jinmao, China Merchants Shekou, C&D, Poly Developments and China Construction Zhidi - with China Construction Zhidi winning at RMB 1.324 bn, an accommodation value of RMB 25,552/sqm and an 8.70% premium.

The tender documents require the plot to be developed under the "Yizhuang quality homes" model, and require the winner to undertake construction of the planned green space on plot 1304 in block YZ00-0802 (c. 41,000 sqm) and hand it over to the relevant government departments free of charge on completion, where it will become an important ecological and recreational space for the area.

Corporate Watch

Hongkong Land: The Landmark Mandarin Oriental to reopen on 1 June 2026

On 22 April, per Hongkong Land, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental will reopen on 1 June 2026 as an important part of the "Tomorrow's CENTRAL" upgrade of LANDMARK.

JD.com: RMB 2.42 bn of land in two days, in Beijing Yizhuang and Hangzhou Qianjiang Century City

Beijing Qizheng Shuzhi Technology, a JD.com affiliate, secured a comprehensive commercial and financial services plot in Yizhuang New Town, Beijing at the reserve price of RMB 1.757 bn. The Beijing site lies in block YZ00-0303 of Yizhuang New Town, with a total site area of 48,600 sqm, split into two sub-plots C13B-1 and C13B-2 with starting prices of RMB 1.078 bn and RMB 679 m respectively.

On 20 April, JD.com won a riverside commercial plot in Qianjiang Century City, Hangzhou for RMB 663 m, taking its two-day land spend to RMB 2.42 bn. The Hangzhou plot covers 26,300 sqm with a plot ratio of 4.5 and an accommodation value of RMB 5,600/sqm. It will host JD.com's Zhejiang regional headquarters, with planned total investment of c. RMB 2 bn, creating a regional hub combining office, technology and JD MALL functions and housing over 4,000 employees.

ESR partners with leading domestic insurers to set up an RMB 1.6 bn core fund

ESR, a leading Asia-Pacific real asset manager, recently announced it had signed agreements with two leading domestic insurance groups to jointly establish a dedicated RMB income fund with total investment capacity of RMB 1.6 bn (the "Fund"). The partnership not only deepens and consolidates ESR's capital recycling strategy in China - continuing to build its industrial and logistics platform through an asset-light model - but also marks a solid step forward in building diversified, long-duration institutional capital partnerships.

Alongside ESR's existing capital partners, the transaction also drew support from institutional investors partnering with ESR for the first time, further enriching ESR's diversified, long-duration institutional capital network and underscoring domestic long-term institutional capital's firm conviction in modern logistics assets in China's core regions.

As fund manager and asset operator, ESR will retain a minority interest and full management functions in the Fund. This structure ensures continuity and expertise across leasing strategy, operational management and asset enhancement, laying a solid foundation for stable long-term returns to investors.