One of China’s leading property tycoons has warned of a grim outlook for retail landlords as overcapacity and the rapid growth of ecommerce hit shopping malls in the world’s second-biggest economy.
Zhang Xin, the chief executive and majority owner of Soho China, said the commercial property developer focused on Beijing and Shanghai had “pretty much converted all of our retail space, with a very few exceptions, to offices”.
“You have some really well run high-end retail that will do well,” she said. “But way too many badly run high-end [malls] that won’t do well. And the low end has been beaten by online, so they are quickly disappearing.”