1. Reshaping of Demand Structure: Industry Sentiment Divergence Widens Resilience Gap Between Business Districts
The structural divergence of the domestic economy is reshaping the leasing demand side of the office market: the continuous expansion of high-tech industries such as AI, semiconductors, and new energy will drive the release of leasing demand from related companies; traditional domestic demand sectors, under operational pressure, are likely to generally reduce leased areas to optimize operating costs.
Influenced by the gradual entry of new supply within the year and landlords continuing to retain tenants through price concessions, rents will remain on a downward trajectory. However, business districts capable of attracting tenants from high-tech industries will see faster office absorption rates compared to others, leading to a gradual narrowing of their rent declines.
2. Evolution of Leasing Demand: Dual Impact of Industrial Clustering and Workforce Efficiency Upgrades
Current tenants tend to favor business districts with concentrated industrial resources, clusters of upstream and downstream companies, and supportive industrial policies, aiming to leverage the industrial ecosystem and policy benefits within the district for further development.
Furthermore, the large-scale application of AI will reshape corporate human resource configuration needs. Some companies leveraging AI to optimize workforce efficiency will reduce their leased office space.
3. Resurgence in the Bulk Market: Parallel Recovery of Investment and Owner-occupier Acquisition Demand
The increased activity of investment-oriented buyers in the bulk transaction market is expected to inject confidence into the market. Office assets with stable rental cash flow and located in sci-tech innovation hubs will be the preferred targets for investment-oriented acquirers.
Benefiting from the development of high-tech industries, demand from related companies to acquire office buildings for their own headquarters will be released. Office buildings whose location and industrial attributes highly match their own business and have sufficient renovation potential will become the favored targets for this type of owner-occupier acquirer.
2026 Q3 Beijing Office Market Strategy
Recommendations for Tenants: Select Quality Projects Based on Needs, Optimize Terms Leveraging Brand Strength
For tenants whose business operations are highly dependent on office image, flagship buildings within the Guomao (CBD) business district are the preferred relocation choice. When selecting a location, such tenants should also focus on comparing the hardware facilities and service standards of the buildings to meet the needs of innovative office, efficient collaboration, business reception, and negotiation scenarios driven by new organizational and business models.
Leading tenants can leverage their brand influence to occupy a strong position in lease negotiations, thereby securing more favorable leasing terms. Tenants can also negotiate with landlords to have the landlord bear the one-time capital expenditure for office space fit-out.
Recommendations for Landlords: Build Industrial Support Services, Provide Dedicated Operations to Retain Tenants
Landlords should transform into enterprise service providers, establishing a complete suite of industrial support services, such as investment and financing connections, industry salons, etc., to empower tenant development.
For tenants with leases expiring soon, landlords can proactively engage them in advance, offering lease renewal incentive packages while simultaneously opening up benefits like floor upgrades; and assign dedicated account managers to provide one-on-one service, responding efficiently to tenant needs.
Recommendations for Acquirers: Anchor Acquisition Targets, Conduct Targeted Screening
It is recommended that investment-oriented acquirers prioritize considering the acquisition of office buildings in the Zhongguancun business district already occupied by leading companies with stable occupancy rates exceeding 90%; simultaneously, verify tenants' remaining lease terms, creditworthiness, etc., to ensure the project has stable rental income.
Owner-occupier acquirers with backgrounds in high-tech industries can consider acquiring office buildings with well-developed surrounding industrial infrastructure but whose owners face financial pressure, potentially acquiring assets at lower prices; and focus on assessing hardware renovation costs, selecting projects that can be adapted at low cost to meet industrial development needs.
Q2 Market Performance
Overview of Beijing Grade A Office Leasing Market
In Q2 2026, the average effective rent in Beijing's Grade A office leasing market remained on a downward trend, decreasing by 2.7% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 197 per square meter per month. The vacancy rate dropped by 0.6 percentage points quarter-on-quarter to 16.3%, but still remained at a high level. Coupled with the gradual entry of new supply during the year, absorption pressure in the leasing market remains significant.
Business districts favored by high-tech industry tenants, such as Zhongguancun and Wangjing-Jiuxianqiao, recorded large-scale office leasing transactions: Thundersoft newly leased approximately 7,000 square meters in Dongsheng Science Park Phase II in Zhongguancun; Geek+ newly leased approximately 8,100 square meters in Hengtong Business Park in Wangjing-Jiuxianqiao. This confirms that the rich industrial resources within business districts and the high-standard hardware facilities of office buildings have become important advantages in attracting high-tech industry tenants.
Overview of Beijing Grade A Office Leasing Market by Business District
Beijing Business District Leasing Transaction Highlights
Performance of the Office Bulk Transaction Market
In Q2 2026, the transaction volume of Beijing's office bulk transaction market reached RMB 14.2 billion, with two factors driving transaction activity: On one hand, the divergence in industry structure, the low-interest-rate environment, and the launch of commercial property REITs are driving investment-oriented acquirers to actively deploy in office buildings located in business districts rich in high-tech industry resources; on the other hand, policies supporting the development of high-tech industries are boosting demand from owner-occupier acquirers in related sectors to purchase office buildings for their own headquarters.
Zhongguancun business district recorded the highest-value office bulk transaction of the quarter: Dajia Life Insurance and other insurers jointly established a special fund of RMB 6.1 billion to acquire Dinghao DH3. This transaction reflects investment-oriented acquirers' recognition of the long-term value of the Zhongguancun business district. Additionally, the stable rental cash flow generated by the project's quality tenants is a core factor for the investment-oriented acquirers' purchase.
Trends in Average Selling Price and Rent-to-Price Ratio for Office Bulk Transactions
The average selling price for office bulk transactions this quarter rose by 24% quarter-on-quarter to RMB 38,312 per square meter. The significant increase in average price stemmed from owner-occupier acquirers purchasing office buildings in the Financial Street South Extension Area and Lize business districts at average prices above RMB 50,000 per square meter. This indicates that companies with demand for self-owned office space are actively acquiring quality office assets, taking advantage of the current price window.
Beijing Bulk Transaction Market Case Studies
RET Research Center of Commercial Real Estate
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