In Depth: China’s Slumping Office Rental Market Faces a Steep Climb in 2023

For the last few decades, the clusters of office buildings that reach into the sky above major Chinese cities have served as a symbol of the country’s economic rise. Over the last year, however, those same structures have begun to look like more of a drag.

China’s market for office space did well during much of the pandemic. After an initial slump in the first year Covid emerged, the market bounced back big in 2021, underpinned by strong demand from tech and finance companies.